Ambiguity
by Jun-I
Summary: A deadly manhater finally meets her match in a dark ronin. Kanbei x Kyuzo. Not yaoi. Kyuuzou is a woman passing as a man.
1. The Bodyguard

Ambiguity  
Chapter 1: The Bodyguard  
----------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuuzou (later)  
Rating: T for now (might have to M it in later chapters)

Notes: not quite yaoi, Kyuuzou is a woman disguised as a man. Was inspired to create female Kyuuzou fics after learning the original character design for the anime chara Kyuuzou was female. IMHO, the Kanbei/Kyuuzou relationship and even the Kirara/Kyuzo dynamic seems to make much more sense with a female Kyuuzou.

**Warnings:  
**- mention of body modification. Kyuuzou is female, but I am keeping her physical characteristics the same as they are in canon, so I have to come up with a way to explain the flat chest and deep voice. Put up with the twisted first chapter just for the background, and things will get lighter later. ;-)  
- Characters may express politically incorrect opinions.

Disclaimers:  
- For fun, not for profit. Kyuuzou, Ayamaro and S7 characters belong to Gonzo.  
-Opinions expressed by characters do not necessarily reflect author's opinions.

* * *

Some days Kyuuzou wondered why she was working for Ayamaro. But her parents would not entertain the thought of her working anywhere else. Ayamaro was a relative. She would be safe with him. But her father and mother have not seen the gang of creepy men in Ayamaro's employ, not to mention the harem of her distant cousin Ukyo. 

Still, by and large, the samurai woman did not have to deal with the shady men who worked in Ayamaro's security forces. They were low-level servants. As Ayamaro's personal bodyguard and his distant niece, she was off limits to them. And even if she did not have the privilege of this special status, she knew that they feared her deadly combat skills enough to leave her well and alone. Kyuuzou was not even sure if they knew she was female either. She had lived disguised as a man for years. The only male non-relative Kyuuzou had significant contact with in Kougakyo was the other bodyguard Hyogo. The blonde was not at all fond of him – her colleague was cunning and cutthroat – but at least he had one redeeming attribute in her eyes. Hyogo's desire was only towards other men.

Ayamaro was a cautious man. Since there were many beautiful females in Ukyo's harem, the magistrate hired only women or homosexuals for jobs that would require access to Ayamaro's family quarters . Kyuuzou did not have any issues with her kinsman's policy. In fact, the scarlet samurai did not like men in general. All this started when she was still called Keiko.

When Keiko was 6, her nurse Tomoe went home to her village to visit her family. It was supposed to be a short visit. Keiko waited in vain for the one person she loved best to return. Keiko's parents said that Tomoe had decided to remain in the village to take care of her aging parents. It was not till later that the other servants secretly told the merchant's daughter the true reason why the nurse did not come back.

While Tomoe was home with her family, the village had been attacked. Kyuuzou's nurse had been seized and carried off by rampaging soldiers. The rest of the family had been killed in cold blood. Nobody knew where they had taken the nurse or if she was even still alive. From that day on, it was as if a dark cloud had come upon the little girl's world. More bad things happened to women than to men, she noticed.

Then there was Mother and Grandma's endless exhortations to look out for evil men on the street. The world was indeed a hideous place. Keiko told her father she wanted to learn to fight, so she could defend herself, or at least die trying. Mother did not want her to devote her energies to such 'undignified activities', but Father could never deny Keiko anything. He found her the best teachers, and they all told him that the ruby-eyed girl was the most diligent student they've ever had.

A man groped her when she was 13. It was a drunken business associate of her father. The man ran his rough hands over her young form and would have done more if she had not killed him. She needed no swords for that. Keiko cupped the man's head in her hands and snapped his neck in one quick move. One of her teachers had taught her that technique.

The matter came before the local judge but it was decided that Keiko had acted in her own defense, and she suffered no consequences. Still, it was a most unpleasant experience going to court, and seeing the worried faces of her parents and the angry faces of the relatives of the man she had killed. She knew she was fortunate that her family was fairly well to do, and could afford good lawyers.

Keiko felt proud of the killing, but still she could not erase that dirty, degrading feeling that came with being touched by filthy hands. It was not just because of that one man – there was something wrong with the whole world! Poorer women were kidnapped by bandits – the more fortunate ones ended up in the harems of wealthy men , and the others forced into prostitution. The servants told her horrifying rumors of peasant women being taken away to serve as incubators for clone embryos. What was the difference between her and these unfortunate women? Just a matter of wealth, class and place. Keiko was always fearful. She was not really safe. Anytime the bubble of her privileged world could burst and she could fall into that hell that others had already fallen into.

Keiko hated to be looked upon with desire by men. After the assault, she took the name Kyuuzou and started living as a boy. In her heart of hearts, the merchant's daughter did not want to be a man. But if living as a man was what it took to be safe, then that was what she would do. Even then, Keiko knew she was not one of those fortunate women who could easily pass for male. She was too delicate in form. So the ruby-eyed girl worked on changing her voice, forcing it to an unnaturally low register.

Ever since her body had started to change, Keiko hated her reflection in the mirror, hated her woman's figure, hated being an object of desire. The girl opted to have a double mastectomy done when she was 16. Her parents lamented her choice. But as always, Father would pay for anything if his willful daughter wanted it badly enough. Nevertheless, the matter caused a rift in their household. Mother's endless tears about her future marriage prospects nearly drove her mad. Within a year Kyuuzou had left home secretly, leaving only a letter for her parents stating that she was going to fight in the civil war.

Kyuuzou did not tell them which side she would be on. That would make it harder for them to find her. And the cold warrior really did not care which side she fought on. She did not even care if she died. Life was not worth living the world being the way it is.

But it was precisely this lack of fear of death that made Kyuuzou the calmest, deadliest, most successful soldier in her entire regiment. She became something of a legend, coolly stepping into situations where other samurai would fear to tread. If any of her comrades suspected she was female, they did not mention it. She kept to herself and made no friends, except for one. Makoto.

In eight years the Great War was over. Kyuuzou returned home, no less angry and bitter than she had been when she had left, and even colder and crueler than before. Yet her parents were overjoyed to have Keiko back. The family's peace did not last for long however. Mother fretted that Keiko, at 25, was in danger of becoming an old maid. Father talked about hiring a matchmaker who could put a positive spin on Kyuuzou's unusual career experiences and lack of certain physical assets. The young woman finally had enough. She told them she was moving out, that she would find a job and live on her own. There was a big domestic dispute. Keiko's parents were not going to let her leave so easily a second time.

Finally they reached a compromise. Kyuuzou could go work as a bodyguard for their relative Ayamaro who lived in Kougakyo. That way, Kyuuzou could still stay in touch with her beloved fighting arts, and her parents could feel 'safe' that she was living with a relative, and a powerful lord at that

* * *

The Influence Behind Chapter 1:

The idea of the antisocial high achieving soldier actually turning out to be a woman comes from the historical figure of Han E, a late Yuan/early Ming Chinese army officer. In the chaos at the turn of dynasties, Han E's family disguised her as a boy in the hope that she would not be assaulted by retreating Yuan soldiers. The 12 year old 'boy' was however conscripted by the Yuan soldiers to be a servant. A few weeks later, Han E, who had been trained in sword fighting by her uncle, killed the Yuan commander and joined the anti-Yuan forces.

Han E proved an excellent soldier, quickly rose up the ranks of the army, but remained stoic and standoffish, avoiding social situations and even casual conversation with her comrades. It was not until 12 years later that Han E revealed to the army high command that she was female. The news spread through the ranks, and soldiers praised Officer Han as a heroine. She married a former comrade and their children built a temple in their mother's honor.


	2. The Match

Ambiguity  
Chapter 2: The Match  
--------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuuzou Rating: T for now (might have to M it in later chapters) 

Notes:  
-Kyuuzou is a woman disguised as a man.  
-Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. From Kyuuzou's point of view, of course, she knows she is female.  
-Kyuuzou is 30, but passes for a younger man.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Recently, there was some trouble in Ayamaro's household. Kyuuzou's cousin Ukyo had been trying to pursue a peasant girl named Kirara against his father's will. But that was not the only thing. That same peasant girl had come to Kougakyo to recruit samurai to defend her village from the Nobuseri. By the time Kyuuzou heard of her, Kirara had already gotten a few ronin under her management. It seemed that Uncle Ayamaro saw her activities as subversive. Tessai sent his men after the girl and her ronin band, but they were soundly defeated. Ukyo then started pestering his cousin to finish what Tessai's fighters could not.

Kyuuzou was reluctant. After all, she worked for Uncle Ayamaro and not his son. But she had never been good at resisting the requests of whining babies, so she allowed her young cousin to talk her into taking a walk with Tessai and Hyogo to the ronin's hideout.

As the three walked through the streets of Kougakyo, Tessai briefed Kyuuzou and Hyogo on what he knew of the ronin gang. So far, there were four samurai – a dark middle-aged man with long hair, a tall silver-haired man with formidable reflexes, a mechanized samurai of a non-standard model, and a young boy who barely knew how to survive in combat. They were accompanied by three peasants – a young man, a child, and the teenage girl who orchestrated the recruitment of the ronin.

Kyuuzou was of the opinion that all they needed to do was to eliminate the leader of the band, and then the rest of the band would scatter. It made the most sense to kill Kirara then, she had suggested. But Tessai said Ukyo would not want that because he wanted Kirara for his harem.

Kyuuzou rolled her eyes. She was never one to devote her energies to executing worthless plans. This unnecessary limitation defeated the whole purpose of the operation. The crimson samurai was about to turn back when Tessai stopped her. The real direction of the group, he said, now lay with the tall dark samurai dressed in white. He was a formidable warrior. None of Ayamaro's other fighters were a match of him. That was why Ukyo had been so insistent that Kyuuzou should come along.

At this, the exasperated samurai relented. She had not had a challenging fight in a very long time. In fact, not in the five years since the war ended. Well, things better be as exciting as Tessai promised.

The three finally arrived at the labyrinthine compound in which the ronin were last seen. Hyogo said it would take only Kyuuzou to finish them all off. He insisted Tessai and himself should wait while Kyuuzou went alone into the ronin's den. Kyuuzou accepted Hyogo's plan even though she suspected he was only borrowing someone else's sword to kill her. The blond warrior knew Hyogo secretly desired to be rid of her. Hyogo regarded the other bodyguard as a rival and had long resented what he thought was Ayamaro's favoritism towards his niece.

Tessai asked Kyuuzou to leave Kirara alive, but she made no promises. The quiet woman had never considered it her place to interfere in her cousin's affairs, whether or not she approved of Ukyo's lifestyle. But using her to capture a girl for his harem was another matter. It was probably better for the girl to die under her sword than to be forced into Ukyo's harem. Perhaps killing Kirara would be the best thing Kyuuzou could do for her.

* * *

Kanbei had a sense of foreboding when he saw Kirara and Katsushiro run down the stairs to meet him. He knew they had been followed. The seasoned soldier could sense a powerful ki in the vicinity. The ki of a mighty warrior.

Then s/he came into sight. A slender red figure with the demeanor of a queen. S/he was tall for a woman, of average height for a man. The blond androgyne looked down at Shimada, severe and proud. Kanbei knew immediately that this was no common opponent. The strange samurai made a death-defying leap down the long flight of stairs, landing lightly and effortlessly before Kanbei. The older warrior studied him/her, visibly impressed.

Kyuuzou observed the man. It was him, no doubt. The dark samurai dressed in white. The tall man was older than her by at least a good ten years, but still very handsome. He had strong, striking features, and his loose wavy hair cascaded over his shoulders. The scarlet samurai herself, however, had never been considered fair of face. She was tolerable to look at, perhaps, but certainly not beautiful. She knew that men preferred women who looked like Kirara. That was just as well, because Kyuuzou did not want men to desire her. But if only being ugly was a guarantee against coming to harm. Then life would be too easy.

For most of her adult life, Kyuuzou had gotten much pleasure out of killing men in battle. She was undefeated, and proud of it. This man's corpse would be another one to add to her long list. "Draw," she commanded. He hesitated, but when he saw that the haughty stranger was not one to be argued with, he moved his hand to his sword.

They exchanged a few blows and parries. Neither had the upper hand. Then she saw an opening and went in for the kill. Her sword went straight to his throat but she had to stop when quite suddenly, she realized to her chagrin that he had trapped her by holding his scabbard against the back of her head while pressing his blade lightly to her neck. She knew she was bleeding, but so was he. They were stuck in a stalemate. Kyuuzou was furious. Who was this man who had the skill to stop her?

"I'm in love!" The dark samurai suddenly declared as he leaned towards her, gazing into her eyes. Kyuuzou blinked in surprise. Had he guessed that she was a woman?

Kanbei took advantage of his opponent's momentary shock to break contact with his/her sword and force his/her blade away from his face. As his sword grated against Kyuuzou's, sparks flew between the two fighters.

Kyuuzou's eyes widened in surprise at the ease with which the man had evaded her. But she recovered immediately. As the older fighter moved to close the distance between them, the red warrior counterattacked fiercely. Kyuuzou would have killed the man just for saying those shameless words, but Kanbei had retreated to a safe distance. It was then he clarified that it was her martial arts skills, and not her, that he was in love with.

Still, the way he looked at her while they crossed swords earlier made her wonder if he had seen through her disguise. It was almost as if there was something insulting in his gaze – something bordering on lust. She decided that he would die for this insolence.

Kanbei took advantage of the distance between them to speak. He asked the red warrior to join him on his quest to defeat the Nobuseri. He was half-expecting him/her to turn him down, but he did not quite expect him/her to react so angrily. S/he practically screamed his/her refusal and then charged at him with a mad fury.

In the exchange of slashes which followed, Kyuuzou had the upper hand. The man was on the defensive, while Kyuuzou was dictating the pace of the fight. She almost nailed him a few times, but the older fighter always managed to elude her. He escaped her assault by launching himself onto the beam of a nearby shed, but she brought him down to earth again by leveling the building with a few clean strokes of her twin swords.

Kyuuzou sought her rival amidst the flying dust of the collapsing building. Then all of a sudden, he was right beside her. The haughty blond samurai gave a start when the dark man seized her hand, stilling her sword. His grip was strong. She felt her breath catch in her throat.

"I cannot defeat you," the older samurai said, breathing heavily. "But before you kill me, there is something I have to finish under all circumstances. Please wait for me until then. Forgive me."

He passed his hand over her wrist in near-caress as he let go of her and stepped away. Kyuuzou was stunned by the unexpectedly sensual touch. Then she began to shake with fury. How dare he? That man should die for insulting her honor. Yet Kyuuzou did not know why she let him step away. Mercy was not in her nature, especially mercy towards a species not known to show mercy.

The darkly handsome samurai stopped in his tracks, as if reading her thoughts, "Or would you kill me right now?" he asked without even turning to look at her.

Kanbei could feel Kyuuzou's malicious glare on his back. He could sense the other warrior raising his/her sword. This was a gamble, he knew. But one that he was willing to make. He wanted to win the trust of this rare fighter. And to gain trust, he first had to give it. Then the tension of the moment was interrupted by a shout from above, "Kanbei! Look out!"

It was Kikuchiyo. The robot, having just arrived on the scene and seeing Kyuuzou raise her sword against Kanbei, had jumped down to strike at the slender warrior. But Kyuuzou was quicker. She spun round and disarmed Kiku with one blow, then she raised her other blade to cleave the robot in half. That was when Kanbei came upon her from behind and struck her sword out of her right hand. Kyuuzou's sword went clattering to the ground as the robot went flying into a pile of metal poles.

The ruby-eyed warrior was angry. Angry that she allowed the man to disarm her. She deftly lifted her fallen sword with her boot and seized the hilt lightly. "I have no interest in playing your game," she said coolly as she sheathed her twin blades. Then she turned and walked back up the stairs. All this while, she could feel his burning gaze on her back.

The dark man gazed after Kyuuzou's departing figure as he caressed the wound on his neck where his/her sword had touched him. "I want him/her," Kanbei said to himself, his voice laced with desire.

For days after, Kanbei's thoughts wandered to the mysterious samurai. The name the stranger gave was a man's name. His voice was a man's voice. His figure was that of a youth's but Kyuuzou's face was too old to match his figure if he was really a man. And Kanbei had been close to 'him'. Close enough to breathe in the other warrior's scent and take a close look at Kyuuzou's smooth, pale face. Shimada was quite certain that face had never been touched by a razor.

The dark warrior wondered what lay beneath that red robe – the strong, supple figure of a woman, or the slender form of a young man. Either way, he still wanted to possess the crimson samurai.


	3. The Grudge

Ambiguity  
Chapter 3: The Grudge  
----------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Synopsis: Rabid man-hater Kyuzo finally meets her match in a dark ronin.

Pairing: Kambei x Kyuuzou. Not exactly yaoi. Kyuzo is a woman in disguise.

Notes:  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.  
- All the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is undecided.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

After two days of futile interviews with numerous ronin, Kirara's samurai band had not gained any new recruits. As Kanbei ordered the team to set out for another day of searching, Gorobei interjected, "By the way, what are you planning to do with that samurai?"

Gorobei did not mention Kyuuzou by name, but Kanbei knew exactly who he spoke of. The dark-haired samurai raised his fingers to the scar on his neck as he recalled golden hair, ruby eyes and skills to die for. He caressed the spot where s/he had touched him as he wondered how to win Kyuuzou over. But why would the haughty warrior follow him if s/he was well taken care of in his/her current employment, as things appeared to be?

* * *

He said he could not defeat her. Yet in her heart of hearts the "confession" grated on her. Kyuuzou suspected the man did not mean what he said. After all, the dark ronin had control of the fight at the moment he spoke those words to her. "That arrogant bastard," Kyuuzou thought. "It is typical of a man to condescend to placate an angry woman with insincere words."

Then again, Kyuuzou was not so sure if Kanbei knew she was a woman. It did not matter anyway. Unfortunately for that man, this woman did not want to be placated. She would make him pay. The male samurai would realize too late that the 'lie' he told was actually true.

Thus Kyuuzou decided that Shimada Kanbei would die, and by her hand alone. Part of her wanted to seek him out and kill him right away. But another part of her told her to watch and wait. She needed to find out if the warrior had any weaknesses she could exploit. From what she had seen, he played an excellent defensive game. Her offense was very strong, even unstoppable. No man had survive her onslaught before. But in that one match, the dark ronin had been able to evade her attacks.

Killing him was not going to be easy.

Her conclusion was confirmed when Hyogo went out to kill Kanbei himself and returned defeated. Earlier in the day, Hyogo had declared to Kyuuzou that he was going out to challenge Shimada. The quiet blonde had allowed her colleague to leave without saying a word. But as she watched his departing figure, she felt a cold rage rising under her calm facade. It was as if that pale man had stretched out his greedy fingers to grasp at something that belonged to her and her alone.

Kyuuzou decided it was not going to happen again. No one else was going to touch Shimada. Not if she could help it.

Some days later, Hyogo came to her, telling her that he received intelligence from their Nobuseri contacts about the movements of the Kanna gang. The two bodyguards left immediately so they could intercept the gang as Kanbei and his friends exited Shikimori territory.

Under normal circumstances, Kyuuzou would be among the first to rush into battle, but as Hyogo and the Nobuseri prepared to attack Kanbei and his samurai, the female warrior hung back. This would be a good opportunity for her to observe the dark ronin in action and look for chinks in the armor of his seemingly impenetrable defensive strategy.

Things always seemed clearer when analyzing a fight from the sidelines. But that was not the only reason for her reluctance to fight against the Kanna Gang in this battle. There was something else nagging at the back of her mind. Something she could not quite put into words.

Too many times the warrior woman had stood by and let things happen to others because it was 'not her place to intervene'. In her uncle's mansion, the female samurai had pretended not to hear the servants whispering about girls kidnapped off the street and brought to her cousin's harem. After all, who was she to say anything about the conduct of her lord's son if Ayamaro himself did not seem to mind? But still, the woman felt oddly guilty. And while Kyuuzou had her personal grudge against Kanbei, she held nothing against the other samurai who happened to follow him. She did not even know them. She would kill them in the course of her work if she had to, but recently, the question of "what kind of work am I doing?" had been crowding her thoughts more often than it used to.

With these strange thoughts in her mind, Kyuuzou came upon Kanbei and his band of three samurai.

The red samurai stood watching on a cliff as the Nobuseri and the four samurai went into battle. She observed the exchange between Kanbei and the Raiden with particular interest. The man was economical in his movements, and timed his opponents with unusually sharp precision. His attack was also very precise - with two clean cuts he had put the Raiden out of commission. Precision was also one of Kyuuzou's strengths. She was probably even more precise than he was, but now, more than ever, she wanted to be sure.

The woman in red looked on as the white-clad samurai sliced through a dozen Yakans and charged towards another Raiden. Kyuuzou was sure the Raiden was finished until she heard the cannon shot.

Hyogo had fired his cannon at Kanbei, knocking the sword out of the older man's hand. Kanbei was wounded and bleeding. As the Raiden was poised to bring its great sword down on the kneeling man, something in Kyuuzou snapped. The red warrior jumped down from the cliff and landed on the Raiden. She proved her precision by targeting the robot's joints at the weakest points, dismembering the Raiden in a matter of seconds.

Kanbei watched the graceful flight of the slender warrior as s/he leaped off the falling Raiden and soared through the air, his/her long red robe billowing in the wind. S/he had saved his life.

Kyuuzou deliberately landed some distance behind Kanbei, with her back to his. The less the man got to look at her face, the less likely he would be able to guess she was a woman, if he had not guessed already. "Only I can kill you," she said. She wanted the man to have no doubt as to why she was there. It was not out of sympathy for him.

Just then, she heard the sharp clang of a katana blade meeting metal. Two halves of a cannon ball landed some distance in front of her. Kyuuzou turned and realized that Hyogo had just fired the cannon at her and Kanbei had intercepted the shot, slicing the cannon ball in half. So now Shimada had saved her life. She hated owing any man anything, but then, she had just saved his life, so now they were even.

The frustrated Hyogo would have tried again, but the Nobuseri leader said they had accomplished the task of analyzing the enemy's strength. Hyogo turned and left with the Nobuseri. Kanbei approached the crimson warrior, but she still kept her back to him. She heard him speak, "I'm afraid you can't go back to your companions."

Kyuuzou understood the unspoken invitation in Kanbei's words, but she had no intention of giving in to the man's desires. She walked away from the white-clad warrior without a backward glance. A tall samurai with silver hair stepped in front of her. She recognized him. He was present at the fight between her and Kanbei. The look he gave her now was one of both suspicion and challenge. She read the unasked question in the soldier's eyes: "Will you fight on our side?"

Kyuuzou gave no answer. Then Kanbei said to the silver-haired man. "Let him go."

The big man stepped aside and Kyuuzou walked away into the desert. She could feel someone watching her keenly, sending her off with his eyes. She knew it was Shimada Kanbei.

The woman walked on, wondering if she should help the villagers. All these years, she was too busy protecting herself to spend her time protecting anyone else, with the exception of Uncle Ayamaro. But he was a rich and powerful man who could have done without her anyway. To him, she was replaceable. Then she thought of her old nurse Tomoe, that one irreplaceable person who was taken from her. There was nothing the red samurai could do for her now. Kyuuzou did not know where Tomoe was, much less whether she was still alive. But maybe she could do something so that others would not face Tomoe's fate.


	4. Committed

Ambiguity  
Chapter 4: Committed  
---------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo 

Notes:  
-Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Kyuuzou calmly slipped her swords back into her S-shaped scabbard. A wrecked Raiden lay before her. She heard Hyogo's cannon discharge but this time, she was ready for him. The woman dodged the cannon balls easily. Then she turned to face the man who had just tried to kill her.

"Kyuuzou, why did you kill that Nobuseri?" the pale man said, "Kanna Village has violated the injunctions of our lord. We should bring a speedy report to Ayamaro."

The woman eyed him coldly. Hyogo then asked mockingly, "Is it because you cannot forget that samurai? I can't believe that _you_, of all women, would care for a man."

Kyuuzou did not answer him. She would not rise to his baiting.

The pale man laughed unpleasantly. "And of ALL men, you pick this scruffy creature no better than a dead dog. Your uncle would have found you a better match, if you'd just ask him."

The crimson warrior remained silent.

Seeing that Kyuuzou did not seem to appreciate his sense of humor, Hyogo switched to a different tune. "Killing a poor samurai cannot bring you glory. I will keep this a secret from our master. If you stay in Kougakyo, you will have safety and shelter. Come back to us."

Even as he spoke, the Yakans were closing in around Kyuuzou.

* * *

Kyuuzou had long disappeared from sight when Kanbei and the other samurai heard a loud explosion. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a billowing cloud of black smoke rising from behind the sand dunes.

As the four samurai came upon the scene of destruction, they saw the androgynous warrior surrounded by Yakans with drawn swords. "Kyuuzou." That was the first word which escaped Kanbei's lips.

"Did he do all that damage?" Shichiroji marveled as he eyed the fallen Raiden lying near the red warrior.

Then more Yakans appeared, dragging Kikuchiyo with them. Without hesitation, Kanbei ran towards the Yakans, followed by the rest of the warriors.

Kyuuzou turned her head as she heard Kanbei's sword slice through the first Yakan. Had he come for her? No, it was only for his mechanized comrade.

Hyogo fired at Kanbei, but missed. As the four samurai tried to fight their way over to Kikuchiyo, slicing through one Nobuseri after another, Hyogo realized the tide of the battle was turning against him. So he said to the woman, "Kyuuzou! If you wish to fight this man so badly, do so now with me as your judge. If you kill him and come back to us, you will not face any consequences for your actions. But if you die, I will kill him."

Kyuuzou turned to face Kanbei with a small, sarcastic smile on her lips. This was not how she envisioned their final match would be. She would prefer to fight on her own terms, at a time of her choosing. As their eyes met, somehow they understood each other. They both knew that this was just a sham; that Hyogo's hand was on the trigger, waiting for the chance to shoot both of them. Yet they had to play his game for perhaps a little longer. The rival fighters moved their hands to their sword hilts. Then everything happened in a flash.

Kanbei saw Katsushiro launch off the cliff, jumping straight at the Yakan holding Kikuchiyo captive. Kyuuzou heard Hyogo's cannon go off, followed by the battle cry of a child. She spun around and rushed at Hyogo before he could pull the trigger again. With two neat strokes of her twin swords, she fell both the cannon and the pale man holding it.

As Hyogo lay dying, he asked her, "Why?… Kyuuzou?"

"I just want to live a real life," she told him.

His last word to her was "Fool!"

But how could he understand what was in the woman's heart? In name, Kyuuzou was her uncle's enforcer and bodyguard. She did her job well. But sometimes she was not sure if she was protecting Ayamaro or if he was protecting her, the way Father and Mother saw it. As far as they were concerned, she was a precious daughter handed over to a powerful male relative for 'safekeeping'. The only time Kyuuzou felt free was the time she rebelled against her parents and joined the army. Now scarlet warrior had rebelled again. She knew the price would be high. But at least she was free once more.

Betraying her kinsman and employer was not something Kyuuzou had wanted to do. But what she wanted even less was to be something passed from one male protector to another; to be watched over from cradle to grave. Such would not be her fate, not if she could help it.

Kanbei came up behind her. "May I ask you to come with us?"

She would not meet his eyes. But she responded, "When do we leave?"

"Now," he replied.

Just then, the peasant priestess approached Kanbei. "That person is an enemy!" she declared, looking at Kyuuzou.

Kyuuzou glanced at her. As Kirara moved her eyes from Kyuuzou to Kanbei, the red warrior noted that the young woman's expression shifted from hostility to concern. The female samurai realized the girl did not want her here because she saw her as a threat. A threat to Kanbei.

Kirara had looked at her with suspicion just as Gorobei had done. But there was something more in the girl's hostile gaze. Kirara eyed Kyuuzou with the kind of anxiety and animosity that a woman would only use on another woman! Had the peasant girl seen through her disguise too? Kyuuzou frowned.


	5. Rendezvous at the Rock

Ambiguity  
Chapter 5: Rendezvous at the Rock  
------------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Notes:  
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

It had not been a pleasant journey, but at least they had survived. Kirara's constant competitiveness and cattiness had annoyed the female samurai to no end, but Kyuuzou put her irritation at the younger woman aside when danger came. She had rushed between Kirara and the Nobuseri, saving the girl from certain death. The robot was quickly put out of commission by Kyuuzou's twin swords. The crimson warrior, however, sustained an arm wound in the fight.

The samurai woman did not stop to fuss over her injuries, but was the first to press ahead on the road to Kanna. Finally, the three reached the agreed meeting place under the wing rock. No one else was there yet. Kyuuzou sat down some distance from the rock, facing away from Kirara and Shichiroji. She meditated in silence for some time. Then she heard the peasant priestess' approaching footsteps.

"I'm sorry I was a burden to you." The voice was kind, apologetic.

Kyuuzou looked up at Kirara suspiciously, wondering if the younger woman's cattiness would suddenly resurface. But Kirara smiled down at her. "If you are willing, I could repair your robe. It is the least I could do."

Kyuuzou looked around carefully. Shichiroji had disappeared. "He went to relieve himself," the water priestess said, as if reading Kyuuzou's thoughts. "He said he would be gone for a while."

With some relief, Kyuuzou gingerly removed her robe, taking care to keep her back to the other woman. She felt Kirara's eyes studying her slender figure as she undressed. Kyuuzou wondered if the other girl knew. But how could she ever guess? The female samurai was as trim and flat-chested as a man.

Kirara said nothing as she took Kyuuzou's red robe. The peasant took out her sewing kit and began her work. For a while, the two women sat side by side in silence. All these years, living in the world of men, Kyuuzou had maintained her steely aloofness as a defense against unwelcome attention. Perhaps it wasn't necessary now. She felt a tiny degree of warmness towards the peasant girl. After the priestess finished her work, she handed the dress back to the samurai, saying, "Thank you for saving my life."

"You're welcome," Kyuuzou replied, putting her robe back on.

It was then the priestess asked, "You're a woman, aren't you?"

Kyuuzou 's eyes widened just a little. The samurai stared at the priestess, unsure of what she should do next. Kirara continued, "You can fool others with your external appearance, but a water priestess can feel the quality of someone's inner energy. A woman's energy pattern is distinct from a man's."

Kyuuzou said nothing.

The priestess continued. "If I thought you were a man, would I be sitting here next to you, without a chaperone present, sewing your clothes while you were partially undressed? That would not be appropriate conduct for a woman of my position. What other people think or say is one thing, compromising my own standards of propriety and discretion is another."

Kyuuzou glanced behind them and then said, "… As to what other people think… everyone is watching us right now."

The rest of the seven samurai, along with Rikichi and Komachi, had arrived at the wing rock and were looking in on Kirara and Kyuuzou's exchange. Fortunately, they were outside hearing range. Kirara smiled at her, "Never mind them. They can think whatever they want, but rest assured, I won't tell your secret to anyone."

A small smile stole across the cold warrior's face. For that brief moment, the two women felt something akin to friendship pass between them.


	6. The Approach

Ambiguity  
Chapter 6: The Approach  
---------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:  
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Heihachi, Gorobei and Kyuuzou sat hidden among the trees, watching some of the other samurai crossing the bridge into Kanna under the cover of a smelly hay cart.

"Do we have to get on that?" Heihachi asked apprehensively.

The smartly-dressed red samurai put her foot down. "There must be another way!" Kyuuzou declared.

Heihachi replied, "On our journey, Rikichi told me about a small path through the forest that might take a little longer. It leads to a narrower part of the gorge where there is small plank bridge which would take us to the other side."

Kyuuzou looked interested, but a doubtful expression came to Gorobei's face. "Are you sure that crossing is not being watched by the enemy?" the short-haired man asked cautiously.

"Rikichi said not even the villagers use that crossing because the old bridge has not been maintained for many years." Heihachi responded. "So I'm guessing that the Nobuseri may not be aware of it. Or if they are, they might not think it is worth watching. The bridge would probably fall if someone put an ox cart on it, but it should bear the weight of one human."

"I'll check it out." Kyuuzou volunteered.

Heihachi said, "No. With your red outfit, you are too visible. Let me go see if the coast is clear. I am small and can move undetected more easily. Besides, Rikichi gave me the directions first hand."

The small mechanic slinked off through the bushes, leaving Kyuuzou and Gorobei in their hiding place. After a few minutes, Gorobei broke the silence. "Now that you've allied yourself with us, does that mean you've given up the idea of killing our leader?"

"I will still fight him to the death. After your work is done." Kyuuzou said flatly.

The big man frowned almost imperceptibly. The answer did not surprise him, but still, he thought, "How much can we trust this not-quite-ally?"

Then Gorobei asked the strange samurai, "Why do you want to kill Shimada Kanbei?"

The red-clad fighter remained silent.

Yet the tall man persisted, "You don't have to fight him. Why do you need a duel to decide who is better when he has already acknowledged you as the superior fighter?"

She responded to his question with a question. "Well, Gorobei-dono. You've seen our first duel. Who do you think will be the victor when I fight Kanbei again?"

"You will be the victor. I know it."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because he will let you win."

At this, the yellow-haired samurai turned pale with rage. But she bit back the angry words on the tip of her tongue. The slender warrior turned slowly to look at the big man before speaking with a deliberate calmness, "Do you think the two Raiden you saw in the desert 'let' me win?"

A small, sarcastic smile twisted Kyuuzou's pale features but the look in the samurai's eyes had become icy, dangerous.

"No, you misunderstand me." Gorobei said as he read the cold displeasure in Kyuuzou's red eyes. "I know you are the best of us. Everyone can see you're the best fighter among us."

"Then why do you think I need Kanbei to 'let' me win?" Kyuuzou's neutral voice masked a rising rage.

The silver-haired man replied, "Shimada Kanbei will let you win not because he thinks you are weaker. He will let you kill him because he loves you."

Kyuuzou started imperceptibly. Then she fixed her cold red eyes on the tall dark man and said. "I know you make jokes for a living, but do not expect me to pay you for this poor jest."

Gorobei was a little surprised. The quiet warrior's tone was smooth and even, but the perceptive samurai detected a hint of simmering anger underneath. He must have pushed a hot button. But the tall warrior took Kyuuzou's jab graciously. He put up his hands defensively as he added, "I just do not think a man deserves to die for falling in love. That's all."

Kyuuzou jumped slightly, but she did not miss a beat as she replied to the other samurai. "Love? Or is it lust that you speak of?"

Kyuuzou's face was an expressionless mask, but the red warrior's tone was cutting, caustic. Gorobei took all of that in. He sighed. "Our leader is an honorable man. Perhaps you will see this more clearly as time goes by."

Do you believe I should entertain his attentions?" Kyuuzou responded slowly and detachedly, as if analyzing a topic that had nothing to do with 'him', "It is so typical of men to chase after something that looks elusive. But once they get their hands on their quarry and the mystery is gone, they discard their 'prize' like a used rag."

This time the biting bitterness in the scarlet samurai's voice was discernable, at least to Gorobei's sharp ears.

"I'm not asking you to entertain anything," the soldier-turned-entertainer replied in an amiable manner. He paused as he studied Kyuuzou's coolly dispassionate features for a moment longer.

"And you are probably right about the conduct of many men," Gorobei conceded. Then he added, "But neither you nor I are that kind of man, I would presume?"

The silent samurai did not answer.

Gorobei continued, "And have you not noticed that Kanbei does not conduct himself as common men do? The only reason I agreed to help Kanna is so that I could fight alongside such a leader. A lesser man could not have brought me here."

Kyuuzou almost rolled her eyes.

Then the tall man spoke quietly, "But I think I have guessed why you put a death sentence on him. His offense was that he dared to desire you."

Kyuuzou was speechless for a moment. Then she recovered and would have snapped at Gorobei if Heihachi had not returned at that point in time. "The forest trail is unwatched. We can enter the village using the old bridge."

At that, Gorobei got to his feet and made a sweeping bow to Kyuuzou, before turning to follow after Heihachi.


	7. Unspoken Resentment

Ambiguity  
Chapter 7: Unspoken Resentment  
----------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:  
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Kyuuzou, Heihachi and Gorobei entered the village and found the three peasants and the other samurai already there. They met at the chief's house and there it was decided that the samurai would stay with Rikichi during their time in Kanna.

When night came and the samurai settled into their makeshift bed chamber in Rikichi's barn, Kanbei noticed that Kyuuzou was missing. He was not too surprised. It was obvious to anyone who had met Kyuuzou even briefly that the scarlet samurai was proud, aloof, and not very sociable. Still, Shimada wondered where s/he was.

Kanbei had hoped that the journey to Kanna would have broken the ice between the cold samurai and his/her two traveling companions at least. But it seemed that all that had happened was that Kirara and Kyuuzou put their enmity aside and replaced it with a degree of mutual trust. That in itself was an achievement, Kanbei told himself. He should not have expected too much. The silent warrior probably needed more time to warm up to the rest of the team.

The next day, Kanbei assigned the samurai their duties. Heihachi was to build the weapons systems. Shichiroji took charge of the fortifications. And Kyuuzou was to teach the men of the village how to use the bow. Kanbei was sure the scarlet samurai gave him a steely glare when s/he received her/his orders. If looks could kill, Shimada Kanbei would have been a dead man.

"Why is Kyuuzou so angry at me?" The tall warrior wondered. Was the master swordfighter a poor archer? All samurai had archery training, but some had much worse aim than others.

The leader secretly observed Kyuuzou's archery sessions. It turned out that his worries about Kyuuzou's skill with the bow were unfounded. Shimada put aside his question as to why Kyuuzou was annoyed at him for giving him/her such a duty. The leader had other things to think about, other pressing duties to attend to.

In the days that followed, Kyuuzou continued to keep to himself/herself and did not speak with the samurai more than was needed. S/he still did not sleep in the same room with them. Kanbei wondered where s/he spent his/her nights.

Yet Kanbei noticed that the strange red warrior was actually somewhat more friendly towards the villagers than towards the other samurai. Kyuuzou's near-cordiality extended not just to the men s/he was training in archery, but also towards the peasant women. Once or twice, Kanbei saw Kyuuzou in conversation with Manzou's tomboyish daughter Shino. But by all appearances, the fair-headed samurai was cautious around the village women and never crossed the line into what might be construed by anyone as impropriety.

Shimada was most intrigued by the strange samurai. The dark ronin wished he could understand what lay behind Kyuuzou's silent exterior. He decided to start with finding out where Kyuuzou slept at night. One evening, as always, Kyuuzou got up and left silently after the group had finished their dinner. Kanbei excused himself shortly later and stepped out of Rikichi's house into the cool evening air. He followed after the red figure who was already quite some distance ahead. Kyuuzou walked right down the wide path cutting a swath through the forest. Then s/he turned off the path and headed into the trees. When s/he reached the ancient redwood tree, s/he sat down under the giant trunk and lay her/his back against it.

Kanbei slowly and silently came up behind her/him. S/he spoke without turning to look at him. "Why are you following me?"

The older samurai was not surprised that his presence had been discovered. He had always been impressed with Kyuuzou's sharp senses. Kanbei slowly rounded the tree. "I am concerned about your outdoor sleeping arrangements," he said as he came to a halt in front of the scarlet samurai. "I am willing to work with the villagers to find you more comfortable accommodations. "

"This suits me just fine." Kyuuzou answered in a chilly tone. "I like my solitude."

This was her honest answer, and it was also a hint to the man that he should leave. But he did not. Kanbei continued speaking. "It is not always safe out here. Come back to the village with me. We will find you a different room. For you alone."

"I do not wish for better accommodations than the rest of the samurai." Kyuuzou replied, "It would not be fair."

The quiet loner had a point. Kanbei knew that he would not win this argument. At least not tonight.

"Sleep well," he said to the scarlet warrior as he turned to leave. "But if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to tell me."

"I won't change my mind." Kyuuzou said curtly to Kanbei's back.

The dark ronin paused for a moment. Then he turned back to look at him/her. "If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

Kyuuzou said nothing as s/he stared at him with cold red eyes. Kanbei sighed inwardly, then he started walking away. Suddenly, Kyuuzou's deep voice sounded behind him. "I want to train the women to be archers too."

Kanbei stopped in his tracks. He turned slowly and looked at the slender androgyne. He had said to him/her a few days earlier "Train the MEN of the village in archery." Was that why Kyuuzou was angry with him?

"If everyone is in training, who will do the work of the village?" Kanbei asked the samurai who was sitting against the tree.

"Is there a rule that says the men can't do the work of the village while the women train to be defenders?" Kyuuzou retorted.

"You are challenging old customs here." Kanbei replied, "We came here to fight a battle, not to change traditions. And men are more suited for the task of war than women are."

"You are the one who said that the numerical odds are against us," Kyuuzou responded, "Does it not make sense then to have as many trained defenders as we can have? Don't speak to me of the 'weaker sex'. These women are farmers used to hard labor, and some of them are bigger, taller and stronger than Katsushiro. If you are willing to let that child go into battle, there is no reason you cannot let grown women defend their own homes."

There were so many other ruder things she could have said to that man, but that thick-headed chauvinistic fool would probably not understand anyway, Kyuuzou thought.

Kanbei looked down at the crimson warrior with an unreadable expression. Kyuuzou stared back at him with cold, unblinking eyes.

"Very well," the commander finally said, "If any of the village women have permission from their men folk, you can train them as archers. But I caution you not to overstep your limits and recruit women against the will of their men folk. If I receive any complaints from the villagers about your conduct, I will ask you to stop. And at that time you will obey me, without question, and immediately. Is that clear?"

Kyuuzou was up on her feet in a flash. "Permission from men folk, indeed!" she thought. She would have slapped Kanbei. Hard. But the samurai held her hand back. Instead she closed the distance and stepped right into Kanbei's personal space. Their faces were just two inches apart. Kyuuzou looked up into the male samurai's eyes with a taunting, challenging stare. But her voice was even and neutral as she said to him, "Thank you for your permission."

Kanbei thought he detected a hint of biting sarcasm in Kyuuzou's seemingly dispassionate tone. What was more clear was the slender androgyne's unexpectedly aggressive body language. Kyuuzou's posture was invasive, even intimidating. The dangerous warrior was right in his face, glaring at him. Kanbei knew that Kyuuzou was more than a little angry. But even so, the old soldier could not stop his mind from wandering as he tried to keep himself from drowning in those angry scarlet eyes. The other samurai was close, so close. Their lips would meet if Kanbei just dipped his head a little lower. Then the usually composed commander was ashamed of that thought.

Kanbei stepped back, increasing the distance between him and the smaller warrior. His eyes lingered on Kyuuzou's pale face for a little longer, then he turned and walked briskly into the night. Kyuuzou smiled a small, wry smile at the departing figure. The samurai woman had challenged the commander and he had backed down. She had won, at least for now.


	8. Defiance

Ambiguity  
Chapter 8: Defiance  
------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:

- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.

-Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

-This chapter was inspired by the scene in which Shino and three other female peasants (including a pants-wearing tomboy) were among the archers covering Katsushiro when he faced Ukyo's men in Kanna; and the earlier scene in which a hefty woman was standing among the peasant men in Hei's defense team, all with their mallets raised. So the presence of female fighters fits into the canon universe.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

The next morning, Kyuuzou went about his/her duties as usual. But during lunch break, Kanbei saw the peasant men sitting around Kyuuzou in a circle as they ate. The tomboy Shino was also there with them. The scarlet samurai was speaking to the peasants earnestly. Some of the men nodded in assent. Others looked doubtful. Kanbei was too far away to hear what they were talking about. Then Manzou's daughter stood up. She addressed the men. Kanbei still could not hear what they were saying. But from the young peasant woman's animated gestures and fiery expressions, he could guess she was probably using much more colorful language than Kyuuzou did.

The day after that, Kanbei saw Shino with her own bow, standing among the peasant men in Kyuuzou's archery class. A few more days passed. Shichiroji mentioned to Kanbei that he saw some of the peasant men leaving Kyuuzou's archery sessions after lunch to go back to their fields. The scarlet samurai apparently did not have a problem with that. The odder thing, said Kanbei's aide, was that the men who left archery training were replaced by their sisters, mothers, wives or daughters.

"Kyuuzou just let the peasants switch roles as they pleased." Shichiroji shook his head in puzzlement as he spoke to Kanbei. "Are you not going to talk to him about maintaining some discipline?"

"It is fine," Kanbei replied. "Kyuuzou has my permission to do this. It was his idea to allow the men under his command the option of rotating between farm work and defense training. But at the same time, he wanted to maintain the maximum number of archers within each training session. Thus, when the men go home to work in the afternoon, their womenfolk were obligated to take their places."

"Kyuuzou-dono is certainly a strange one," Shichiroji mused. He missed the House of the Fireflies, where men were men and women were women. Shichiroji's idea of an enlightened male did not extend far beyond a guy who took the trash out.

So, Kyuuzou's controversial venture had turned out to be a moderate success, Kanbei noted. Certainly there were not as many peasant women as peasant men among the archers, but the dark commander was surprised that so many of the men had supported Kyuuzou and Shino's ideas.

Kanbei still wondered about Kyuuzou's physical gender. He was beginning to think Kyuuzou was more likely to be a 'she', observing the scarlet samurai's almost sisterly comradeship with firebrand Shino. Or the androgynous warrior could be one of those sensitive homosexual men who seem to understand and befriend women so well. And then again, s/he could be neither.

Perhaps Kyuuzou would no longer be angry with him now that s/he had gotten what s/he wanted, Kanbei thought. The scarlet samurai was still cold whenever they greeted each other, but at least s/he had stopped looking daggers at him.

Yet Kyuuzou was apparently still not content. The following week, Kanbei saw Kyuuzou with Heihachi during lunch break. Heihachi was laughing as he passed Kyuuzou a rice ball. The two were apparently sharing some private joke which Kanbei did not hear. How strange! Kyuuzou was being sociable? Kanbei stopped in his tracks and observed the two young samurai from some distance away.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Kanbei heard the mechanic say rather loudly to Kyuuzou. The scarlet warrior simply smiled quietly at Heihachi in response. Then s/he looked over and caught Kanbei's eye. Kyuuzou abruptly turned away from him back to Heihachi. S/he began speaking to the red-headed samurai again. The conversation was now too soft for Kanbei to hear. He went on his way.

Over the next few days, women started appearing in Heihachi's team of builders. Shichiroji was the one who brought this to Kanbei's attention. Kanbei asked Heihachi about the new development. Heihachi said that Kyuuzou had come up with a clever idea to solve the labor shortage in the weapons construction team – recruit the village women. Shimada frowned. He asked Heihachi if any of the village men had complained.

"Oh no," Heihachi replied, "The peasant men respect us samurai so much they will do anything we ask as long as we give them a solid reason. I did not compel any women to join my project or to defy their families to do so. The women on my team all came from families who want their womenfolk to help. After being forced to hand over Rikichi's wife to the Nobuseri, volunteering their womenfolk for defense construction was a small thing for these peasants. With any luck, we won't have to hand over village women to the Nobuseri again. For most of the villagers, male or female, winning this battle is more important than adhering to abstract traditional roles."

"It is good that you have gained more workers for your team," Shimada Kanbei said, "But next time, before you do anything unusual of this sort, please clear it with me first."

"Yes sir," Heihachi replied as he bowed. "Forgive me for my presumptuousness."

Kanbei's thoughts turned to Kyuuzou. The commander realized he had underestimated the quiet loner's social skills and persuasive abilities. He felt a new kind of respect for the scarlet samurai. Previously, he had respected the other warrior for his/her deadly battle skills. But Kanbei never saw her/him as much of a thinker or influencer. Until now. Even so, the stern leader was very annoyed that Kyuuzou had gone behind his back to push changes on Heihachi's team. War was not the time for an avowed individualist to promote his/her own ideological agenda.

* * *

It was late evening when Kyuuzou approached the giant redwood where she rested each night since she arrived in Kanna. Kanbei was waiting there, arms crossed, leaning against the tree. She was not surprised to see him. But she was annoyed. He had entered her wall-less bedchamber without permission, and was leaning against her favorite tree!

Kanbei went right to the point. "Kyuuzou-dono, I have no complaints about how you manage your archers, but you overstepped your limits when you went over me to tell Heihachi-dono how to run his team."

The deadly swordswoman felt a fresh irritation build within her. "I understand that it is your exclusive prerogative to order people around." She addressed her leader coldly and clearly, "But I did not tell Heihachi-dono to do anything. I simply threw a few ideas about during a casual conversation. It was purely of his own volition that he decided to take them up."

"Casual conversation, you say. You never seemed interested in socializing with the other samurai until you realized they could be useful for furthering your agenda" Shimada said coldly. Kyuuzou's eyes narrowed.

The dark commander continued in his reproach, "Can you honestly claim you never planned to influence Heihachi-dono? You knew exactly what you were doing when you talked Heihachi-dono into something he would not have thought of doing on his own. Your idea may be useful, but before you take them to the other samurai, clear it with me first."

By now, Kyuuzou's irritation had turned into smouldering anger. She had worked hard to acquire the goodwill and support of the village men for including the peasant women in the war effort. She even took the additional precaution of going through the men to recruit their womenfolk instead of approaching the women directly herself. But Kanbei did not seem to appreciate the fact that the scarlet samurai more-than-adhered to his original injunction not to recruit peasant women against the will of their men folk. Her unreasonable leader was now picking for bones in an egg.

"If a casual conversation could be considered 'influence', then you should prohibit all your samurai from speaking to each other!" Kyuuzou retorted sharply, "And do we have to report everything we talk about to you?"

Now it was the commander's turn to be angry. He could not allow such open insubordination among his warriors if he was to run an effective campaign. Kanbei would have struck the haughty creature in the face, but somehow he could not bring himself to do it. Instead, he closed the distance between them in one stride, drawing himself up to loom over the shorter samurai. "So, this time it is Kanbei's turn to try to physically intimidate me into backing down," Kyuuzou thought. She could smell the man's scent, hear his breath. Now that she was not the one to initiate the standoff, she did not feel all that comfortable. So Kyuuzou said to Kanbei without a trace of emotion in her voice, "Go ahead, discipline me. We were both once soldiers. I understand what a commander has to do, even if I can never agree with him."

Kanbei stepped back, as Kyuuzou had hoped he would. The male samurai drew his katana. Then he brought the non-cutting edge of the sword down sharply on the sensitive point where neck met shoulder. The scarlet warrior stifled a gasp of pain as she crumpled to the ground.

The tall man turned and walked away. The pressure point technique was nearly impossible to resist as it triggered a reflexive reaction, but the sharp pain it caused was only temporary. It was more useful for control than for damage. There would be no bruise on Kyuuzou's fair skin come morning. Even so, Kanbei felt his heart seize as he struck the defiant samurai. He had an impulse to turn back, pick Kyuuzou up and cradle him/her in his arms. But these were not actions that would serve his interests as a commander. He strode on.


	9. Courtship?

Ambiguity  
Chapter 9: Courtship?  
-----------------------------

Author: Jun-I

Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

**Notes:**  
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.

- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

- Kyuemon's old granny is borrowed from Seven Samurai .

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Two days passed after Kanbei had struck Kyuuzou. She acted as if nothing had happened. As before, Kyuuzou trained her archers during the day, and returned to her great tree to rest for the evening. That evening, she had drawn her knees up to her chest and was preparing to enter a state of half-sleep when Kanbei came up to her. He was carrying a blanket. Kyuuzou did not bother to greet him. The older samurai said nothing. He just placed the blanket on the ground beside her and left. 

"A peace offering?" Kyuuzou wondered. "But it is not like Shimada to feel guilty about doing what a leader had to do. He never coddled any of the samurai or the villagers."

The next night, Kanbei brought a straw mat for Kyuuzou. Again, he wordlessly placed the item beside her and left. She thought of telling him not to trouble with all this. She did not want all this attention from him. But the samurai did not bother to speak her thoughts. That guy was probably not even worth the trouble to talk to anyway.

Two nights later, he returned. This time he brought her a pillow. By now, the silent samurai was beginning to question if the items were peace offerings or courtship gifts. Was Kanbei courting her? Did he even know she was a woman? Or did he think she was a man? Kyuuzou could not figure that ronin out. Maybe Kanbei thought she would be easy prey because she was not particularly good-looking and would feel flattered with attention from a strikingly handsome man. Well, Kyuuzou was not flattered. She was irritated.

The icy warrior remembered her one other suitor, Makoto. Moriyama Makoto looked like a man, but everyone knew she was really a woman. Unlike Kyuuzou, she had no need to hide her gender. No one would dare to touch Makoto. She was a general's daughter, raised as a boy. Kyuuzou met the mannish young woman when she served under General Moriyama's command during the war. Like Kanbei, Makoto was striking to look at. But unlike Kanbei, Makoto was the same age as Kyuuzou.

The handsome young samurai was a mid-level officer, a couple of ranks higher than Kyuuzou. Moriyama Makoto guessed pretty quickly that Kyuuzou was not really a man. Kyuuzou did not know how Makoto knew, but she supposed it took a woman to know another woman. But Makoto never revealed Kyuuzou's secret.

Kyuuzou was not in Makoto's direct chain of command. Thus the way was clear for the young officer to express her desire to be more than friends with the quiet, ruby-eyed woman. Kyuuzou, however, did not feel the same way about Makoto. Makoto was an honorable leader, an accomplished soldier, highly literate, and very handsome – qualities that almost never went together. Of course, the 'perfect man' could only be a woman. Kyuuzou smiled wryly at the irony. Many young women paid Kyuuzou's friend much attention, even though they knew she was not a 'real' man. Kyuuzou too found Makoto somewhat attractive, but not on the level of true passion. Then, Kyuuzou thought maybe she could never feel real lust for anyone. It was beyond her.

At first, the blonde was nervous about turning Makoto down. After all, the general's daughter knew her secret, and the disguised samurai feared retaliation from a scorned suitor. But Makoto proved more noble. She took Kyuuzou's refusal graciously, and the two became closer friends than before. Then the young Moriyama was killed on the battlefield. Makoto faced down a Red Spider to gain some time for her retreating unit. The unit escaped but Kyuuzou's friend did not. Kyuuzou was with another unit and had been too far away to come to Makoto's aid.

Kyuuzou wished her friend was here now. Makoto's down-to-earth personality had always been an anchor in times of uncertainty. Faced with the strange ronin Kanbei, nothing seemed so certain for Kyuuzou anymore. For years, nothing and nobody truly had the power to upset her. The silent samurai could detach herself from any subject and analyze it with cool dispassion. But all of that changed the day Shimada Kanbei crossed her path. Kanbei was the one subject that had the power to move her to anger. Against her own will, the cold samurai had given that dark ronin a kind of power over her. A power that no one else had.

Kyuuzou wanted to kill Kanbei, but at the same time, she found herself perversely drawn towards the commander in a way she had not found herself drawn towards the 'perfect man'.

The silent samurai did not want to feel this way. And she did not want any of Kanbei's 'gifts'.

* * *

"Can we share a blanket?" Kanbei had said to Shichiroji as they prepared to retire one night. 

"Sure," the aide replied. During the war, he had gotten used to sharing the same blanket and drinking from the same bottle with other soldiers. Then he asked Kanbei "But where is your blanket?"

"Someone needed it more." Kanbei replied. He turned his back on Shichiroji and went to sleep. Shichiroji was curious as to who that someone was, but he got the hint that Shimada did not wish to entertain questions.

The next night, Kanbei's sleeping mat was gone. Shichiroji did not think much of the matter. The two men had to lie on the same mat if they were to share the same blanket anyway.

But two nights later, when Kanbei's pillow disappeared, Shichiroji could bear it no longer. "How are we going to share a pillow?" he asked. "It's too small for two!"

"Never mind, I'll do without a pillow." Kanbei replied.

"No, you take my pillow!" Shichiroji responded. The two argued back and forth for a while until Gorobei suggested a solution. They could take turns using the pillow. The two samurai still would not have agreed, but they saw the annoyed looks on Heihachi and Katsushiro's faces. The unspoken request in the eyes of the young ones was "settle your noisy disagreement quickly so that the rest of us can get to sleep."

So the aide and the commander acquiesced to Gorobei's plan.

* * *

Before long, Kanbei heard the villagers praising the kindness of Kyuuzou and himself to Kyuemon's granny. Kanbei did not even know the old lady existed until then. It went without saying that the respected leader was more than surprised when others claimed the old woman had benefited from his kindness. 

Rikichi told Kanbei the bereft old woman lived by herself in a decrepit house. Her only child had gone to fight in the war so that he could support his widowed mother on a soldier's pay. But he never returned. The old woman raised her son's orphaned offspring Kyuemon alone. Then came the Nobuseri. Kyuemon did not wish to hand over their family's meager supplies, so they killed him. The villagers gave the kinless old woman whatever food they could spare, which was not much. A few days ago, Shino and Kyuuzou had gone to visit the old lady. They brought her a straw mat, a pillow and a blanket, all of which were slightly used, but still better than the old woman's vermin infested bedding, which Shino removed and burned. Kyuuzou said the replacement items were from Kanbei.

When this story came to Kanbei's ears, he could not decide if he was insulted or amused. It was clear that Kyuuzou did not want his attentions or his peace offerings. But yet s/he had turned her/his rejection of his favors into a positive public relations spin for him.

But there was no time for Kanbei to dwell much on personal matters. Soon enough, the Nobuseri attacked in full force one fine morning. The commander heard Gorobei sound the alarm. Immediately, he ordered Katsushiro to escort the children, the elderly and the women to the priestess's house for shelter. That is, except for the women in Heihachi's weapons unit and Kyuuzou's archery unit.

Heihachi's unit fired the giant log with their massive bow. The projectile pierced the eye of one of the Nobuseri's floating bases. The great ship came crashing down. The Yakans tried to cross the chasm into Kanna, but Kyuuzou's archers brought the first wave of attackers down. Kanbei and the other samurai took up their bows and came to lend their strength to Kyuuzou's team. Flaming Yakans fell into the gaping chasm one after another.

Seeing that they could not breach the defenses of Kanna, the Nobuseri retreated. The battle was won but Kanbei knew the war was not over yet. The enemy would be back. So the second part of the samurai's plan was put into action.

When the mechanized robbers returned, the villagers feigned regret at having hired the samurai. Using Kirara, Katsushiro, Gorobei and Kyuuzou as bait, Rikichi persuaded the remaining Nobuseri to accept these captives and a few bags of rice as the villagers' peace offering. What the Nobuseri did not know, of course, was that the remaining four samurai were in hidden in the rice bags. The warriors thus infiltrated the Nobuseri's floating base and proceeded to storm the place. Six samurai decimated many mecha as they could, buying time for Heihachi to enter the ship's control room and destroy it.

Kyuuzou found herself facing a Raiden. The giant mecha swung its sword right at Kyuuzou, but the silent warrior did not flinch even as the blade loomed right overhead. At the last moment, she stepped aside calmly. The sword came crashing down next to her. Then Kyuuzou jumped onto the mecha, slicing her way up its body.

"Kyuuzou! The Raiden's weak spot is its head!" Kanbei called out to her.

Of course she already knew that. Kyuuzou had been on the front lines during the last war. What did Shimada think she was trying to do? She was trying to get to the robot's head. That annoying, arrogant, condescending man! He probably thought she knew nothing. But still, work was work. She had to let this go for now. He would pay later, come time for the duel.

Shichiroji swung himself over to Kyuuzou using his mechanized arm. "Kyuuzou-dono!" he called out. The red warrior grabbed onto Shichiroji as he flew past her. He swung her up and dropped her onto the Raiden's shoulder. Then she unsheathed her twin swords.

Kanbei glanced up from below as Kyuuzou worked through the Raiden's brain with a few lightning-fast flashes of her/his twin blades. Within seconds, the giant mecha fell. Shimada smiled briefly. He could never get tired of watching Kyuuzou's clean, no-nonsense sword work. But it was time to get to work himself. There were more giant robots to slay.

* * *

Author's Comment: 

The idea that the 'perfect man' can only be personified by a woman comes from Cantonese opera (the Chinese opera native to the province of Guangdong/Canton). The young male romantic lead is always played by an actress, although real men play the secondary male roles.


	10. Suspicions

Ambiguity  
Chapter 10: Suspicions  
------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo, Kanbei x Shichiroji (in the past) 

Warnings:  
- mention of traditional form of Japanese homosexuality – wakashudo – which was practiced by the samurai  
- For additional warnings, see Chapter 1

Notes:  
-Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.

-In this fic, Kanbei is 40, Shichiroji is 34, Kyuuzou is 30, and Katsushiro is 15. (I'm pushing Shichiroji's age up to make the wakashudo relationship between him and Kanbei more palatable – and 'legal' by modern standards. For the purposes of this story, it started when Shichiroji was 18 and Kanbei was 24. And ended when Shichiroji was 25 and Kanbei was 31.)

-I am not a fan of wakashudo. It is, IMHO, an archaic tradition that has no place in modern egalitarian relationship models. But I'm trying to be culturally/historically accurate. ;-)

Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

As Kyuuzou sliced up one robot after another, she felt the Nobuseri's floating base lean and lurch before it crashed into the mountain. Heihachi must have succeeded in his mission, she thought. Moments later, the red-headed samurai reappeared, yelling at his comrades to leave the ship. Kikuchiyo opened the ship's door – it was just a few yards from the mountain side. Shichiroji pulled a tree down to bridge the gap between the base and the rock face.

There was no time to waste. Kyuuzou felt tremors in the floor of the dying ship. She was not sure how long the floating base could keep floating after the damage done by Heihachi. Quickly, the samurai woman led the others out, swiftly crossing the log bridge and clambering up the steep mountain face. Right after they made it out, the ship fell away, scraping against the rocks as it crashed into the dark chasm below.

Kyuuzou nimbly led the way up to a wide ledge on the mountainside. Kanbei climbed up after her. Then he turned and offered his hand to the peasant girl who was making her way up the rocks with a little more difficulty. Kirara was about to take the dark man's hand, then she blushed and turned away shyly. Kyuuzou's sharp eyes took all of that in.

The peasant priestess rested her eyes on the wound on Kanbei's arm, hastily bound up with a piece of cloth. "This is no good," she declared as she tried to remove the blood-soaked cloth.

"A mere scratch," the dark man had answered. "Do not bother."

Kirara's response was to concentrate fully on dressing the commander's wound with a fresh bandage.

"So she loves him," Kyuuzou thought. The slender warrior had suspected as much when she first met the priestess face to face. The girl had hated her then, because she saw the crimson samurai as a danger to Kanbei. Watching Kirara's gentle fingers on Kanbei's arm, Kyuuzou felt irritated. But she did not quite know why.

But there was no time for introspection. A few Nobuseri flew up from below and attacked the samurai. Trapped between the deep chasm and the steep mountain face, the samurai fought back, slicing through metal with a vengeance. Kanbei had taken it upon himself to protect Kirara, steering her out of harm's way even as he battled their attackers.

At long last, Kikuchiyo put his big sword through the last Yakan and kicked it over the edge. Kyuuzou thought their troubles were over at least for the moment. But then Kikuchiyo fell backwards. The robot had been hit in the head by a gunshot from the chasm below.

Kikuchiyo was slightly stunned, but otherwise unscathed. Since Kikuchiyo was a mecha, the bullet had merely ricocheted off his metallic head. Kanbei breathed a sigh of relief. Had it been one of the flesh-and-blood samurai, getting shot in the head would have been no laughing matter.

But by now it was apparent that the Nobuseri they just killed still had living comrades down below. The commander wondered how many functioning mecha were left in the chasm.

"We need a scout." Shimada said. "We have to assess the enemy's remaining strength."

"I'll go!" Katsushiro volunteered.

"You'll die," Kyuuzou declared quietly. The red warrior stood up and walked to the edge. Then she turned and looked down at Kanbei. The white-clad warrior gazed up at her. There was a look of concern and question in his dark eyes.

Kyuuzou felt vaguely annoyed at her commander's intense gaze. Did he think she could not handle the mission? Then she noticed that Kanbei's hand was still on the shoulder of the peasant girl beside him.

The crimson warrior gave the dark samurai a wry smile. "It is so typical of a man to hold on to one woman while eyeing another," she thought. Then Kyuuzou was not sure if Shimada knew she was a woman. But did it matter?

"No," she decided. The haughty red samurai stepped over the edge of the ledge and skidded skillfully down the face of the mountain.

When Kyuuzou volunteered to scout the enemy, Shichiroji noticed how Kanbei looked up at the quiet samurai with concern in his dark eyes. Seeing that look on Kanbei's face surprised him. Shichiroji could understand the concern if Katsushiro had been the one to go. But of all the samurai, Kyuuzou was the most likely to survive this dangerous mission. Why was Kanbei so worried?

Then, as the red figure descended the cliff and vanished into the fog, Kanbei spoke, more to himself than to anyone else, "He will surely return. He will return to finish things with me."

Shichiroji frowned slightly. This did not make sense. Kanbei was always a practical leader. He never allowed himself to attach too strongly to anything, even to his comrades. If it was in the interests of the living that the dead should be abandoned, Shimada did so without any sentimentality. If one soldier had to risk his life for the benefit of all, the commander never had any qualms about it. Yet looking at Kanbei now, Shichiroji almost came to the conclusion that his friend had become emotionally invested in their scout. But the aide knew better. This was not something his old commander would do! Or was it?

The blond warrior heard his old friend speak again. "For someone like him, the fog may actually be a help rather than a hindrance."

"Is Kanbei trying to convince the rest of the samurai, or is he trying to convince himself?" The question entered Shichiroji's mind almost instantly. The blond warrior had once overheard Gorobei and Rikichi joking about Kanbei being 'in love with' Kyuuzou, but that was just a jest, was it?

The dark man was still staring in the direction in which Kyuuzou had gone. Ever since Kyuuzou joined the team, Shichiroji had observed how Kanbei's eyes followed the red figure. He assumed that his friend was studying this formidable opponent with their future death duel in mind. Now the aide wondered if there were other reasons.

Shichiroji thought he knew all there was to know about his former commander, but now he was not sure anymore. Years ago, Kanbei had been both his mentor and lover, after the samurai tradition of wakashudo – the way of the youth. As tradition dictated, their relationship ended after Shichiroji grew from a youth into a man. By then Kanbei was in his early thirties, the age at which a man was expected to start outgrowing his tastes for wakashu and look towards settling down with a wife. Both the samurai men moved on with their lives while maintaining a deep friendship.

When the years passed and Shimada turned down one female suitor after another, people started to whisper. Some said the older samurai was not quite willing to abandon the way of youths for the way of women. Shichiroji did not take the gossip seriously. After all, Kanbei did not take any lovers after him, male or female. The commander had more pressing matters to be concerned about in the final years of the war. But Shichiroji always told his friend it was a sin to break so many hearts.

Now Shichiroji was wondering if the gossips were right. Then again, Kyuuzou was too old to be a wakashu. The aide could not quite figure out how Kanbei viewed the strange samurai.


	11. Kyuzo Returns

Ambiguity  
Chapter 11: Kyuuzou Returns  
---------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:  
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.  
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

The six samurai and one peasant slowly scaled the steep mountain face and made their way back to the village. The hours seemed to pass interminably for Kanbei as he waited for Kyuuzou's return. Night came. He could not sleep. Each time he closed his eyes he wondered where s/he was. Day came. There was still no sign of him/her.

"Kyuuzou is too strong to die," the dark warrior told himself. But he was beginning to be more than a little worried. Still, Shimada Kanbei had never been one to let emotions rule him. The commander went about his duties, checking on each of the work teams to make sure they were prepared and vigilant. The samurai were not sure how many Nobuseri they had to worry about, but one thing was for sure - the Nobuseri could launch their second attack at any moment.

Evening came upon the second day. Kanbei and Shichiroji descended the slope down to the cliff-side barricade where Heihachi and Katsushiro were standing guard with the peasants. Shichiroji had brought the two younger samurai their humble evening meal – a few grains of rice boiled with grasses. But before they could partake of their dinner, they heard the sound of small rocks cascading down the steep rock face below the barricade. Something was moving up the cliff wall. All the peasants and samurai prepared to attack, except for Kanbei. "Could it be Kyuuzou?" he wondered.

"Don't do anything!" the leader said in a low voice. He approached the edge of the cliff cautiously and peered down into the misty depths below.

"There's only one person," Shichiroji whispered as he came up behind Kanbei. "We can take him out."

"Yes, but…" Kanbei answered. Just then, the crimson samurai came into sight. S/he was scaling the steep cliff face with remarkable ease, considering the fact that s/he was bearing a Nobuseri cannon across his/her slim shoulders. One would think s/he was carrying a sheet of paper instead of a huge chunk of metal, seeing how s/he leaped lightly over the defense barrier, coming to rest at the top of one of the logs forming the barricade.

Kanbei stared up at Kyuuzou. S/he drew herself/himself up to his/her full height even as s/he stood poised delicately at the tip of the sharpened log.

"Kyuuzou-dono!" Kanbei heard Katsushiro exclaim with undisguised admiration.

The scarlet samurai looked down at them but said nothing. S/he held one sword between her/his teeth. Then Kyuuzou dropped the cannon into Heihachi's arms before flying off the top of the barricade to land lightly in front of the mechanic. "Would this be of help to you?" s/he asked her/his colleague as s/he removed her/his blade from between her/his teeth and sheathed it gracefully. Heihachi replied delightedly, "I'll look into it!"

Kanbei said to the red samurai in a neutral voice, "Thank you for your hard work."

Kyuuzou's back was to the leader but s/he did not even turn around to face him as s/he launched right into her/his report, "I killed a Raiden. As for the Yakans and Tobitos, there are about 30 remaining, as well as a good number of armored foot soldiers."

"What is your assessment of the situation?" Kanbei crossed his arms as he spoke to the cold warrior's back.

"If they are coming, it should be tomorrow." Kyuuzou replied. Then, without waiting for Kanbei to respond, s/he added, "I'm going to sleep."

S/he climbed up the hill without a backward glance at him. Katsushiro stood gazing after the red figure with admiring eyes. Kanbei interrupted the child's reverie. "Katsushiro," he said, "I expect that we will win tomorrow. Tell the sentries to rotate every hour."

"Yes, sir," the child declared eagerly, then he ran off to carry out his orders. If Katsushiro had looked back just a moment later, he would have seen a dark frown come upon his commander's face. Judging by Kyuuzou's numbers, the odds were still against Kanna. Victory was not completely out of reach, but more than likely, a high price would have to be paid for it. Kanbei would never tell this to Katsushiro. The commander could not afford to have the child or the peasants paralyzed by fear and despair even before their first battle.

"We need to finalize our battle plan based on the statistics Kyuuzou has reported." Kanbei said to Shichiroji. They headed back towards the village.

It seemed the samurai were not the only ones glad to see Kyuuzou back. On their way to Rikichi's house, the two warriors came upon a group of peasants joking with Shino.

"Now that Kyuuzou-dono has returned safe and sound, your plans to marry a samurai are back on track," Yohei laughed.

Kanbei felt a dull pain creep up on the edge of his consciousness. "Yes, if anyone could melt the heart of that icy warrior, it would be Manzou's fiery daughter," he thought. Kyuuzou and Shino did seem to get along. At least better than Kyuuzou and the commander were getting along.

Another village girl would have blushed at Yohei's teasing. Kirara certainly would have. But Shino did not. "Shut up, fools!" the firebrand snapped. "Do not dishonor the samurai with your silly jokes. Kyuuzou and I are like sisters!"

Then she added quickly, "I mean, like sister and brother."

Kyuemon's old granny approached the group of peasants, moving slowly with the aid of a walking stick.

"He's a good boy, that red samurai," the old woman said to Shino in a cracked, raspy voice, "He treats you like an equal. When the fighting is over, you should make him stay."

It was clear to all what the old lady meant by those words. "So, everyone thinks Kyuuzou belongs with Shino." Shimada thought. "Perhaps it is better that way. They seem well-matched as far as their personalities are concerned."

Yet the dark samurai could not help feeling slightly dejected. Then he heard Shino answer the old woman in a clear, calm voice, "You're right, granny. Kyuuzou is a good person. But we are from different worlds. He will not be happy in my world, nor will I be happy in his. And he is doing well enough on his own. He needs no one."

Kanbei went his way, mulling the odd conversation he overheard.


	12. Before the Storm

Ambiguity  
Chapter 12: Before the Storm  
--------------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo 

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Kyuuzou was lying against her favorite tree. The samurai was not really asleep. She always rested in a state of half-sleep while keeping her senses trained on her surroundings. It was not possible for a lone woman to sleep in peace. There could be danger in the night.

The sound of a snapping twig told her someone was approaching. The crimson warrior had her sword out of its sheath and pointed at the intruder in a blink. She opened her eyes and noted with relief it was just the child. "Do you want to die?" she asked curtly.

"I… I just want to tell you that you were great!" Katsushiro said with shining eyes. Then he bowed and trotted off.

The master swordswoman smiled as she closed her eyes once more. She was probably the only woman in Kanna whom little boys wanted to grow up to be. Then the lone warrior became aware of another presence in the woods. It was not Katsushiro. It was a familiar presence. One she had felt many times before.

"Come out already," she said to no one in particular.

The tall samurai with long flowing hair came into sight like an apparition between the trees. Kyuuzou said nothing as she watched him approach. Wordlessly, the dark, handsome man knelt down at her side. Thus the two seasoned soldiers looked each other in the eye on the eve of a great battle. They did not need to speak to know what the other thought.

They were facing enormous odds. Taking on 30 Yakans and Tobitos would be within their capabilities. But there were many more foot soldiers remaining. Not to mention the two surviving Raiden and the Red Spider. Earlier, Kyuuzou had taken care not to mention the giant mecha in front of the peasants and young Katsushiro. Kanbei noticed that. It was a deliberate omission. Yet it was not intended to deceive. No one had forgotten the giant robots they saw inside the Nobuseri ship. And the peasants too, had seen them before.

Kanbei gazed at the other samurai's expressionless face. Victory was not impossible, but one small misstep may cost Kanna everything. Still, they had to do their duty, or die trying. There was quite a good possibility both of them would be dead before the sun set on the next day. Kanbei knew that if he did not reach for what he truly desired now, he might never have the chance again. With that thought, the dark ronin leaned closer to the crimson samurai.

Kyuuzou had just returned from spending more than a day in the shadow of death, following their mechanized foes. She even mocked Death and survived when she risked exposure to kill the Raiden. But the warrior knew she might not be so lucky the next day. Standing in the twilight zone between life and death, the notions of love and hate did not seem to matter at that moment. It felt as if she and Kanbei were the only two people left in the world.

That night, in the presence of her rival, the cold warrior felt strangely different, almost warm. So she did not refuse the dark man when he tentatively embraced her. Kyuuzou merely eyed him with cool curiosity. She did not resist when he went on to fumble with her red dress. She was indifferent, at least for the moment. "So, what move would my rival make next?" the idle question flitted across her mind.

Yet after the man had slipped her dress off her slim shoulders, she could no longer remain indifferent. It was time to get even, she thought. The female samurai turned and pushed the older warrior roughly against the tree. Kyuuzou straddled the dark ronin and started pulling his clothes off rather roughly. They were still competitors in a game for control. He laughed and let her do as she pleased.

The commander gazed up at Kyuuzou's pale face as she trailed her fingers across the scar on his chest. The younger warrior stared down at him with challenge in her eyes. Her hands stilled.

"This changes nothing," she said coolly to him. "I will still kill you when the time comes."

"I accept your terms," the other samurai replied calmly. Then he reached up and pulled the strong, slim body down to himself.

* * *

Kyuuzou watched as the dark-haired man ran his hands over her scarred chest. He did not seem either revolted or overly interested. Shimada continued to gaze into her eyes with an expression that looked almost like longing. His hands moved lower. Even then, she did not flinch. Kyuuzou was almost surprised at herself. For once in her life, she did not feel disgusted at being desired. How strange.

The fair-haired samurai felt a pang of jealousy when she wondered how many others he had before her. But she pushed the thought away. This was a brief moment of stolen pleasure in the calm before the storm. None of this had any meaning beyond two warriors trying to feel alive in the shadow of death.

That night, she allowed herself a few hours of real sleep while he kept watch by her side.

* * *

Kanbei remembered the moment when they both knew he now knew that she was not a man. "If I had known you were a woman, I would not have struck you," he had said to her.

She replied rather detachedly, "Woman or man, a soldier is still a soldier. It should make no difference to a commander."

Now the dark ronin looked down at the pale woman lying asleep beside him. Until a few hours ago, he was not certain if Kyuuzou was a man or a woman, but it did not matter to him as far as his desire for the strange samurai was concerned. Either way, Kanbei had wanted to hold the scarlet warrior since the day he first saw her.

The commander finally had his wish, but tasting the cold warrior only made him feel hungrier, emptier, lonelier. He had held her close, but even then she had been distant. She felt his heated flesh against hers, yet her eyes remained cold. He had claimed her body, but her heart seemed unreachable.

Not long later, the warrior beside him slowly opened her eyes. Kanbei watched those scarlet orbs come into focus – for a moment, there was uncertainty, even a hint of vulnerability in those usually sharp, cold eyes. But it was just for a moment. When she met his eyes, her characteristically cool, unreadable mask slid into place.

"Sleep," he said to her kindly.

"No, you sleep," she answered curtly. "I'll keep watch."

"I'm fine," he replied. "Sleep some more."

"It is in everyone's interest that you're well-rested and wide awake when the battle comes." Something in her tone left no room for argument. The commander obeyed her.

Kyuuzou watched the dark man as he rested beside her. Then the crimson warrior realized that the time she lay in Kanbei's arms was the first time in her life she had ever felt at home in a woman's body.  
The white-clad samurai did not sleep for long. He awoke when the storm started. Sheets of rain blew through the forest. Sheltered by the great tree, the two samurai were spared the brunt of the storm. Even so, he put his scarf over her head and wrapped his arms around her. Kyuuzou neither acknowledged nor refused his gesture.

Then the crimson samurai felt tremors in the earth. The Nobuseri were approaching. She informed her commander, then she left him to run to her assigned position in the rice field furthest from the village. As Kyuuzou zipped through the woods, she spotted Kirara on her way to find Kanbei.

The red-clad woman felt a twinge of guilt. Kirara had been true to her word and kept Kyuuzou's secret. Yet the fair-headed samurai had done something that would grieve the priestess if she knew. Kyuuzou had long noticed how desperately the peasant woman's eyes sought after the dark-haired samurai. It bothered the keen-eyed warrior. Kirara and Kyuuzou were certainly not close friends the way two women could be, but they had been through a perilous journey together and developed a certain respect for each other.

Yet she told herself what happened the night before meant nothing. She laid no claim on that man. Besides, the priestess had understood all along that whatever almost-friendly feelings lay between the two women, the samurai would have no regard for Kirara's heart when it came time for her to duel and kill Kanbei.


	13. Changes

Ambiguity  
Chapter 13: Changes  
----------------------  
Author: Jun-I Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo 

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Acknowledgements: Thanks to elfjune for pointing out that the cannon the peasants used on the Red Spider came from another Red Spider slain earlier by Kyuuzou.

Note: In the anime, Kanbei really had that soft expression on his face when he watched Kyuuzou run into the village. I'm not making this up. ;-)

* * *

The Nobuseri attacked under the cover of the rain. Kyuuzou met the Red Spider in the rice fields. She could not let this creature enter the village. The metal monster was big, but the female samurai was faster. She slew it and then rejoined the other defenders in the village. Holding their various stations, the seven fought off waves of attackers until there were none left in sight.

But the battle was not over yet. Heihachi regrouped with Kanbei and Shichiroji in the village square. "Are there any more Nobuseri left?" the mechanic asked.

"There's a Red Spider remaining…" Kanbei replied gravely, peering into the fog. They heard the rumble of distant machines.

"They're coming!" Shichiroji said in a low warning voice. Immediately, the three samurai hid themselves behind a farmhouse."Kanbei-sama, is that the Red Spider?" Shichiroji whispered to his leader.

"It should have seen us by now." The dark man replied. Just then, a quick flash of red caught their eye. Kanbei and Shichiroji turned to see the crimson-clad samurai running out of a side alley. She immediately took cover next to a farmhouse.

"It's Kyuuzou…" Shichiroji remarked. A soft look came into Kanbei's eyes and the vaguest hint of a smile played about his lips for that brief moment he rested his eyes on the woman samurai. Then the two samurai men turned their attention back to the approaching threat. A squad of Yakans was approaching, with the Red Spider close behind them.

The four human samurai and Kikuchiyo emerged from their hiding places to confront the remaining Nobuseri. As Kyuuzou deftly sliced through one Yakana after another, the Red Spider raised its cannon and fired it at Kanbei. It was that moment Katushiro and Gorobei ran into the village square. The silver-haired man with the formidable reflexes rushed in and intercepted the volley before it hit Kanbei. Kanbei was saved, but Gorobei was injured in the resulting explosion.

"Gorobei-dono!" Katsushiro cried out as he ran over to kneel beside the dark man. Blood seeped through the war veteran's clothes. "You cursed Nobuseri!" the child cried, turning towards the monster who had injured his friend. Katsushiro would have rushed at the Red Spider but Kanbei put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"All of you stay out of this," the dark commander said as he strode forward alone to challenge the metal monster.

The two samurai – one machine, one man - dueled with swords until the machine decided to use its gun. Fortunately, the shots missed Kanbei. Gorobei and Katsushiro cried out in disgust at the Nobuseri's dishonorable conduct. But Kyuuzou was not just going to sit there and complain the way men did. The woman took action. In a flash she leaped into the combat zone and sliced off the cannon arm of the red robot.

Years ago, the silent samurai lost a friend to a Red Spider. Kyuuzou was unable to save Makoto then. But she could save Kanbei now. The irony was that she did not even consider Kanbei a friend.

In return for her efforts, the commander had said coldly, "I did not ask you to help me."

"It would annoy me if that thing killed you," the woman replied in an equally icy tone. She did not care what that man thought.

"I was not planning on dying!" Kanbei shot back as he turned away from her and went back into battle.

"Men and their foolish pride!" Kyuuzou thought. They were back to their old ways. The prideful competitiveness of rival fighters. The way of a hawk snatching its intended prey from other predators. She was right. The night had changed nothing.

As Kyuuzou watched, the Nobuseri knocked the sword out of Kanbei's hand and prepared to bring its giant blade down on the disarmed man. The woman rushed forward to stop it but at that moment, she heard another cannon go off. The Red Spider fell. It was the doing of the peasants. They had taken down the Red Spider with a captured gun from the mecha that Kyuuzou had slain earlier in the rice field.

---------

The outcome of the battle was better than Kyuuzou had expected. All the samurai had lived, except for Gorobei, who did not survive his wounds. Kyuuzou was present when they buried him. The silent warrior had developed a degree of grudging respect for the tall silver-haired man. He was the only one with the courage to tell her what she did not want to hear. Even her lord and uncle Ayamaro dared not cross that line. But still, Kyuuzou was not sure if she could agree with what Gorobei had said about Kanbei's regard for her.

The commander left Kanna right after Gorobei's funeral, telling the samurai he must go alone to the Capital to rescue Rikichi's wife. To Kyuuzou he had said, "I have not forgotten my promise to you, but my work is not yet done. Please wait for me a little longer."

She said nothing in return. Kanbei turned from her and walked down the road leading away from the village. Kyuuzou saw Kirara run after him. The village headman said to the priestess, "Let him go. He has to do what he has to do." Yet the peasant woman still stood there on the mountain road gazing after the tall man's departing figure. She stood there long after the dark ronin had disappeared from view. Wordlessly, Kyuuzou turned away from the sight and went back to her great tree in the forest.

------

It was some days after the man had gone when Kyuuzou realized something had changed within her. Another woman would have taken much longer to come to the same realization, but a master warrior like herself could sense the presence of another human's ki. Only this time, the alien presence was living within her own body. A parasite. The memory of the night Kanbei embraced her in the forest came rushing back to her. The proud warrior flushed with shame. Then she took a deep breath and calmed herself. It was still early. It had not yet been two weeks. If she got to Kougakyo there were doctors who could get rid of it safely. But if the weeks dragged into months, she would have to seek help from the healers of the Shikimori people, and their help was never cheap.

The crimson samurai wondered briefly if she should tell Kanbei. Then she asked herself, "What for? So he could pay half of the doctor's bill?" Men were never responsible. They just take their pleasure and leave. The silent samurai had freely taken her pleasure too, at a time she was not quite expecting to live long enough to suffer the consequences. But she could handle this matter on her own. Without him. And even if she wanted to find him, she did not know where he was. No one knew where the Capital was.

Without telling anyone, Kyuuzou left Kanna and headed for Kougakyo. She needed to find a lady's doctor. And soon. When the samurai reached the outskirts of the city, she saw the Capital floating over it. "Is Kanbei there?" the silent samurai wondered. Then she asked herself, "Does it really matter?"

"Probably not," the woman in red thought as she shrugged and approached the city gates.

Kyuuzou heard the news right after she entered the city that was her uncle's domain. Everyone was talking about the dark ronin who tried to assassinate the Emperor and was sentenced to a public beheading. Kyuuzou's cousin, however, had assumed the throne as the new Amanushi before Kanbei's execution date. Shimada, never one to give up, broke free of his shackles at the execution. He tried to take Ukyo's life but was foiled when the young Amanushi publicly pardoned him.

Kyuuzou knew that there would be more to follow. Her cousin was shady and cunning. A public pardon would certainly be followed by private vengeance. For a moment, the crimson samurai thought of finding Kanbei as quickly as possible to warn him, but no, that was not what she came to Kougakyo to do. She had to take care of herself first. Besides, Kanbei should be wise enough to know the dangers of Ukyo.

The samurai woman was searching for a lady physician's office when she came across Ayamaro cowering before three men in a back alley. A man with a mohawk was standing over her uncle. Kyuuzou recognized him as someone in Ayamaro's employ. She rushed in front of her uncle just as the man lifted his sword. The scarlet samurai blocked off the strike with her blade and threw the attacker off Ayamaro. She dispatched the two other henchman, and then looked down at the kneeling coward who had tried to cut down his one-time employer. Kyuuzou sensed there was one more person hidden out of sight, watching them. So she said to no one in particular, "No one is to touch Kanbei. He is mine alone to kill." The hidden henchman could convey this message to Ukyo.

Kyuuzou began walking away, and then with a backward sweep of her sword, she finished off the kneeling henchman. She smiled to herself. The ungrateful bastard had not seen that one coming. The crimson samurai started sprinting down the alley. "Wait," Ayamaro called after his niece. "Kyuuzou, wait!"

-------

The red warrior really had no wish to be stuck with her former employer for company. "Kyuuzou," Ayamaro was saying. "I'm not going to ask why you left. But your parents became concerned after they did not hear from you for a while. I had to lie to them that you took extended leave to go see the world. I hope you won't put me in that position again. I am responsible for you, in a sense. By the way, you should really write to them soon."

The silent samurai said nothing but she was annoyed to be back under the watchful eye of an older relative. Now it would be difficult for her to remove herself from Ayamaro's company and go visit a gynecologist without inviting awkward questions from her kinsman. And if he learnt anything of her situation, there was no guarantee he would not feel obligated to inform her mother and father. But she could not just leave her lord and uncle defenseless on the streets of Kougakyo, especially not after her unscrupulous cousin had taken power.

The former lord and his niece found themselves in the Entertainment District, seeking shelter for the night. It was then Kyuuzou spotted Katsushiro passing by in the crowd. Kanbei could not be far away. The fair-headed samurai recalled the House of the Fireflies. That was where Kanbei and his band were hiding the last time they were in Iyashi No Sato.


	14. Never Lovable, Almost Beautiful

Ambiguity  
Chapter 14: Never Lovable, Almost Beautiful  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo 

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Note: In the anime, Kanbei really did have this small smile on his face when Kyuuzou showed up outside the House of the Fireflies. And the look he gave the red samurai… The 'soft look' that Kyuzo gives Kanbei in the House of the Fireflies was also really there in the anime. In this fic, I simply followed canon for most of the Kyuuzou/Kanbei romantic tension within anime events. Kyuuzou and Kanbei really had something going on! Yay for canon-supported couple!

* * *

It was night in the House of the Fireflies. Kanbei came upon Yukino and Kirara sitting in the stairwell. The peasant girl was leaning on the older woman's shoulder. Yukino said kindly to her, "Don't worry about him. He choose the path he wanted – to help people and save the village."

"But…" the priestess responded.

"You did not followed him here merely out of concern, did you?" The older woman said gently to Kirara. The priestess did not answer.

"She must be upset that Katsushiro left," Kanbei said to himself. "Well, I'm not exactly pleased that he ran away too."

Kanbei had not meant to drive Katsushiro away. Lately, nothing had been going the way he wanted. "It would have been complicated enough if only Kikuchiyo and Katsushiro followed me to the Capital," the commander thought, "but to make things worse, Kirara had to follow her heart and insist on accompanying the young man. Not only that, she brought the child Komachi along. Now we have two untrained civilians to take care of when violence could erupt at any moment!"

Just then, Yukino turned around and noticed the dark man standing there. "Did you hear what we were saying?" the woman asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"No," Kanbei lied. Then the samurai's sharp ears picked up the sound of metal slicing metal outside. Quickly, he turned and walked towards the door as fast as he could without arousing the suspicion of the two women. Kikuchiyo stepped out into the hallway just as Kanbei hurried past. The robot did not need to ask to know that something was wrong. He fell into step behind the commander.

As Kanbei reached the front entrance of the House of the Fireflies, he heard a hate-filled voice scream, "Kyuuzou –" followed by the sound of sword meeting mecha. He dashed into the courtyard. Kyuuzou was there. Seven crab claw mechas lay in smoking ruins around her. The scarlet samurai swiftly cut down the last one standing just as Kikuchiyo and Kanbei ran up behind her.

"It seems that we have come late." Kanbei approached the female samurai. She did not turn to face him as she stood among the fallen robots. The white-clad warrior examined the mecha. These had flame lighters installed. If the robots had lived a moment longer, they would have torched the House of the Fireflies.

"You came at the right time," he said to Kyuuzou's back.

She spoke without turning to look at him. "These were sent by Ukyo to kill you. I only wish to inform you of this."

Her voice was cold. Yet Kanbei's lips curved into a small smile. She had come to him. Of all the things that had happened lately, this was perhaps the one thing that was going his way.

"Ahhh…. Kyuuzou-dono," Kikuchiyo piped up, "You really care for Kanna Village, although you won't admit it."

"You're mistaken," the woman corrected him coolly. "I am merely waiting for this assignment to end."

It was another reminder to Kanbei of the only thing binding the two of them together – their date with death.

"You're not being at all lovable, are you?" Kikuchiyo boomed at the willowy figure.

No, Kyuuzou had never been lovable, yet Kanbei loved her still. But she did not know that. "And even if she did, she would not care," the dark samurai thought resignedly.

"Be careful," Kyuuzou continued as if she had not heard Kikuchiyo speak at all. "This is one of Ukyo's tactics."

It was then Kikuchiyo and Kanbei saw Ayamaro hiding behind a nearby tree. "Hey there," the mecha called out. "Isn't that the uncle in charge of the rice?"

* * *

Kirara came out into the hallway after checking on her sleeping sister. She noticed that the room opposite was brightly lit. Kanbei, Masamune and Kikuchiyo were inside. Kyuuzou was sitting outside in the corridor, right behind Kanbei.

"When did she get here?" The priestess wondered. But she was not too surprised to see the samurai woman. What she did not expect to see was their old foe Ayamaro having his dinner inside the room. Odder still was the sight of the former lord of Kougakyo having a calm conversation with the three samurai.

The young woman walked over and listened to the conversation. Ayamaro told the samurai that the new Amanushi's fair words were most likely lies. "Ukyo eliminates his opponents in secret while he flatters them in public," he warned. And what's more – even as Ukyo gave out free rice to the citizens of Kougakyo, he would probably use the Nobuseri to squeeze the peasants for more rice.

The look on Kanbei's face grew graver. The dark samurai stood up abruptly. Just then, Kyuuzou spoke softly. "It seems that our work is not yet done."

Kirara looked over to her. The older woman was facing away from Kanbei. She had one slender arm draped gracefully over the balcony rail, and was looking somewhat wistfully at the glowing fireflies floating through the garden.

"So it seems," Kanbei said as he turned to rest his eyes on the other samurai's willowy form. "I have kept you waiting. Please forgive me." His voice was gentle as he spoke to the fair-headed warrior.

"Did the Kanbei's tone just take on a degree of tenderness I have never heard him use with anyone else?" Kirara could not help wondering. "Or perhaps it is just my imagination. Kanbei is always kind to the womenfolk. But does Kanbei even know Kyuuzou is a woman?"

Kirara watched the blonde turn at Kanbei's voice. The priestess noticed with some surprise that the stern lines of the female warrior's face were softened by an almost-gentle expression as she looked up at the tall samurai. For just a brief moment, the look in Kyuuzou's red eyes was warm, not cold. Kirara realized that the older woman, who had never been fair of face, was at that moment almost beautiful. Then that vision was gone, replaced by Kyuuzou's usual hard, dispassionate mask. The peasant priestess wondered if she had really seen this other face at all.

Still, Kirara thought she could detect a slight shift in the other woman's energy. But she could not tell exactly what the change was.


	15. The 'Good Girl'

Ambiguity  
Chapter 15: The 'Good Girl'  
--------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

Ayamaro was still staying in the House of the Fireflies. He did not feel quite at home among his former foes, so he kept close to his niece nearly all the time. This did not suit Kyuuzou's plans at all. With her nosy uncle around, there was no chance for her to venture alone into town and do what she came to Kougakyo to do.

Kyuuzou hoped to leave the House of the Fireflies, finish the Kanna assignment and return to Kougakyo to find a physician before the changes in her body would be visible to all. The proud warrior did not want anyone to see her shame, least of all Shimada Kanbei.

The samurai planned to intercept the flying Capital before it reached Kanna. But they could not leave Kougakyo yet. Heihachi was yet to finish the upgrades on Shichiroji's boat so that it could withstand the coming journey. Thus Kyuuzou passed each day in the House of the Fireflies with a certain degree of anxiety, waiting for Kanbei to give the order to move out. Whenever the warrior woman put her hands on her belly, she could feel the heartbeat of that odd thing within growing stronger by the day. The strange rhythm filled the usually cool-headed samurai with a sense of helpless dread. Here was a foe who could not be slain with her sword.

Finally, the commander announced that they were ready to leave. Kyuuzou was relieved beyond measure. Ayamaro bade a not-quite-farewell to his niece, saying, "So, Kyuuzou, off to fight for the fate of the world again?"

The woman warrior gave her uncle a steely not-quite-glare. The astute lord knew what she meant by that look – he was not to breathe a word of this adventure to her parents.

On the long journey through the desert, Kanbei's band came upon evidence of the Capital's destructive power. The sad ruins of two giant Nobuseri lay in pieces on the desert sand. Heihachi said the damage had been done by the Capital's main cannon.

Yet it was at this scene of death that Kanbei decided that they should stop for the day. Heihachi was ordered to get the Nobuseri's pilotable flying sword into working order. They would use this landcutter to speed on to the Capital the next day. It would be faster than the cruiser loaned to them by the Shikimori people.

As night fell, Heihachi continued working. Kanbei and Shichiroji sat by in contemplation. "I'd like to see what strategy they come up with given our limited options," Kyuuzou thought. "Five samurai against an giant fortress." But yet the samurai woman knew they had to stop the behemoth, one way or another. Sitting by and letting the Capital crush Kanna was not an option.

Kyuuzou was sitting some distance from the group, her back to the others. The scarlet samurai gazed silently at the starlit desert sky. Her sharp ears picked up the gentle patter of Kirara's footsteps as the water witch walked to the spot where Kanbei and Shichiroji were seated.

"Got any strategies?" Shichiroji was asking the commander.

"No," replied Kanbei firmly.

An audible gasp rose from all present. The cold samurai alone showed no reaction. Kyuuzou understood the veiled meaning in Kanbei's "No!" She had noticed how Kirara watched Kanbei while they were in the land cruiser. And she had seen a dark look cross the man's face when he caught the young woman's adoring gaze.

"No?" Shichiroji inquired.

"This may mean death," The older man replied. So Kanbei was rejecting the maiden's love because he did not think he would live for long? But what if he knew he would live? The question crossed Kyuuzou's mind, but she told herself the answer did not concern her.

Kyuuzou heard the priestess gently place a cup of hot tea on the rock in front of Kanbei. She heard the commander say to the girl, "It is late. Go take a rest."

His tone was caring. The girl had replied, "Do not worry. I am at your service"  
The female warrior did not need to be watching to know the subservient and gentle demeanor the priestess used with the older samurai. It grated on her. Kyuuzou could never bring herself to serve a man in such a way. She had seen many women give up dignity for 'love', only to find out that 'love' was fleeting. But Kyuuzou had never felt inclined to make such a choice. The crimson samurai knew she was meant for better, greater things. The glory of the battle, the power to end lives.

"She's a good girl." Kyuuzou heard Shichiroji say.

Heihachi picked up where he left off, "It's no wonder that Ukyo wanted her."

Kyuuzou closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. Everyone thought Kanbei should be with the 'good girl'. The crimson samurai had never been a 'good girl' all her life. She wondered if the samurai who praised Kirara would see Kyuuzou as a hideous, self-  
mutilated, self-hating freak, not a man and yet not quite a woman – if they knew the truth about her? But the proud warrior had no regrets. She would not change who she was for all the world. Still, the fair-headed woman could not help feeling an odd twinge of sadness at not being able to have something she herself would refuse to take, even if it was offered to her.

Why did Kanbei want her when he could have the beautiful Kirara? Kyuuzou wondered. To collect the rare experience of bedding an oddity? The proud samurai felt shame and anger burn like acid through her soul. But she blamed herself more than she blamed the man. After all, she had lain with him willingly.

Soon it will all end, one way or another, the crimson warrior told herself. Either they will die in the upcoming battle, or they will duel and one will kill the other. Yet since the day that thing came into being, Kyuuzou had started to feel a slight reluctance when she thought of taking Kanbei's life. But the warrior's pride would not allow her to change her decision.

----------------

Kanbei had been irritated at the turn the conversation was taking. The dark warrior glanced at the red figure sitting some distance away. The silent samurai may say little, but she always heard much. Shimada firmly steered the topic towards more urgent matters. Still, for a little longer, Kanbei wondered why everyone was encouraging him to accept Kirara's romantic overtures. The girl was young enough to be his daughter! The middle-aged samurai had come to care very much for the priestess, but the affection he held for her would best be described as fatherly love. The Mikumari sisters were the closest things he would ever have to his own children, Kanbei thought.


	16. The Battle Within

Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo  
Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

The samurai prepared to rest, knowing it might be their last night in the land of the living. They would be attacking the massive flying fortress the next day – with a force of only five.

When Kyuuzou walked towards the spot she had chosen to rest for the night, she passed Komachi and Kikuchiyo resting against the side of the Nobuseri's giant sword. The little girl was lying asleep in Kikuchiyo's lap. The woman warrior's thoughts flashed back to the one night Kanbei held her. She quickly pushed the memory away.

Kyuuzou ran into the dark ronin as she rounded the corner of the wrecked Nobuseri's hull. The two stood staring at each other for a moment, then the man in white stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. As the red-clad warrior found herself pressed tightly against her commander, she felt the unwanted being in her womb stir for the first time. A river of surprise ran through her, followed by searing shame. Once upon a time she had been a simply a warrior - neither a man nor a woman - only a samurai. And one of the best, at that. But because of Kanbei, she was now forced to face the very part of herself she had spent most of her life working so hard to forget.

The crimson warrior placed her pale hands against Kanbei's chest and pushed him back slightly. She looked up into the tall samurai's dark eyes and saw a desperate intensity in his fevered gaze. This was different – different from the first time he embraced her. There was a hint of doubt and hesitation in his eyes then.

"So, now he takes for granted that he could have access to my body whenever he pleases." the proud samurai thought as she sighed.

The commander wished he did not need the excuse of a near-hopeless battle to hold his best soldier in a private embrace. But now it seemed that even this excuse was not good enough.

Kyuuzou pushed the man away gently but firmly. "It would grieve her to see this," the fair-haired samurai stated in an unfeeling voice. Then she walked on.

--

The samurai parted ways with the peasants the next morning. Kanbei instructed Rikichi to take the womenfolk back to Kanna in the Shikimori land speeder. The samurai were to race on to the Capital.

Kirara had long debated whether she should tell Kanbei of her love for him. She held back earlier because she suspected there was someone else on Kanbei's mind. Yet it was only a speculation, not a confirmed fact. And that someone did not seem the least interested in Kanbei, at least not in the same way that the priestess was. When Kirara realized the man she loved was heading off to almost certain death, holding her tongue on account of something that may or may not be no longer made sense. She needed to tell him, "Come back alive! I love you."

As the warriors turned to leave, the water witch called out the commander's name. Kyuuzou's back was to her, as was Kanbei's, but she could tell by the sound of Kirara's voice that the woman was on the verge of tears. The peasant girl began to speak but the white-clad samurai interrupted her without even turning to look at her.

"Do not say a word," he said coldly, "My heart is a blank. Even the smell of water cannot enter it."

Kyuuzou was standing right behind Kanbei when he spoke those words. On one hand the blonde felt a strange relief that Kanbei had openly rejected the priestess. On the other hand, she wondered why she would care.

For the first time, the female samurai was conscious of being jealous of the peasant woman. Ever since that thing had come to life within her, it was almost as if her emotions were no longer quite her own.

Kyuuzou had not altered her outward behavior towards Shimada even after the one night they shared. At least she thought she hadn't. The proud samurai would not change her decision to kill Kanbei in one-on-one combat, but she knew that she had started to feel differently in his presence. Was it because of that undesired creature living inside her?

Kyuuzou pushed her doubts away as she prepared to face the upcoming battle. Soon enough, her troubles would be over, one way or another, she told herself.

--

Heihachi flew ahead to Kanna in the Yakan while the remaining samurai raced towards the Capital on the Nobuseri's flying sword. As Shichiroji piloted the vessel, he gazed ahead at his commander. The dark man's attention was focused on what lay in front of them – the approaching Capital. Or perhaps Kanbei's gaze also rested on the slim red-clad samurai standing at the prow of the flying cutter, Shichiroji thought.

"So, are we using our strategy?" the aide asked the commander.

"Of course we are." Kanbei replied.

Shichiroji paused, then he remarked, "You said those words because of the girl."

Kanbei did not respond. Which girl? The unspoken question entered in his mind. But he knew the answer. Shichiroji and the other samurai did not know Kyuuzou was a woman.

During the time Shichiroji followed Kanbei, the aide had seen many women fall in love with the masterful commander. Shimada always turned them down politely but firmly, without giving any of them a chance to prove their worth, leaving many broken hearts in his wake. Some have called the dark handsome man 'heartless'. Shichiroji once thought it was because Kanbei's mind simply no longer had room for such pursuits. But over the last few months, he was beginning to suspect this was not the case.

"You are just as sinful as before. Only this time you added a lie to the injury," Shichiroji stated.

The older man was still silent. "Is your heart really a blank?" Shichiroji continued. "But the girl knows everything."

Shichiroji had noticed how Kanbei spoke to Kyuuzou. His tone was different. Always considerate, almost solicitous. And there was the way Kanbei's eyes followed that scarlet figure. None of the samurai talked about it, but every one of them noticed. The peasant girl was no fool. She must have seen that too. But why would a man reject a warmhearted, beautiful woman who loves him for a cold, unhandsome man who only desires to kill him? Shichiroji could not understand.

"Stop your nonsense." Kanbei said curtly to his friend. He allowed his eyes to rest on the slender figure standing before him, her long red robe billowing in the wind.

--

When the first flying robot came close enough to her, Kyuuzou leaped onto it. She was only too glad to get off the Nobuseri cutter. Her keen ears had picked up on Kanbei and Shichiroji's earlier conversation. Everyone thought that Kanbei should accept the love of the peasant girl. Perhaps they were right. But then, why should she care? She had no claim on that man. Even if Kanbei and Kyuuzou both survived this battle against the Capital, one of them would be dead soon after anyway. Either Kanbei won't survive to live happily ever after with Kirara, or Kyuuzou won't be around to see them live happily ever after. Why was she even thinking such thoughts? The female samurai was annoyed at herself.

Kyuuzou threw herself into what she did best –fighting and killing. As she flew from mecha to mecha in a deadly dance of death, Kikuchiyo called out, "Not bad! Kyutaro!"

The crimson warrior once again felt confident and in control. She had not felt this way since the time that undesired thing came to life within her. The Capital was right ahead. Kyuuzou made her way up the sky, using the flying Nobuseri as stepping stones to her destination. She wanted to end this battle quickly. After the killing was done here, there were another two lives she needed to take. The tiny life growing within her. And the life of its father. She had not quite decided which one of the two she would end first.


	17. Lives Saved, Lives Lost

Ambiguity  
Chapter 17: Lives Saved, Lives Lost  
------------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo  
Warnings: See Chapter 1  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Acknowledgements: Thanks to narrizan for telling me that Kanbei used Kyuzo's sword to cut down Ukyo.  The perspective on Kanbei killing Ukyo is really Zan's.

* * *

Deep within the flying fortress, Kanbei and Shichiroji found themselves in a standoff with Tessai and his horde of gun-bearing Mimizuku warriors. Shichiroji quickly peeled off the flooring with his prosthetic arm and barricaded himself and Kanbei behind the metal sheeting. But how long could they hold out against the mecha warriors' firepower?

The hope for Kanna grew dim. Just then, the Nobuseri cutter erupted through the floor of the great hall. Kanbei saw Kyuuzou in the pilot's seat. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Then, in a flash, the female warrior leapt out of the craft and put her sword through Tessai. Ukyo's chief henchman fell. "Only I can kill that man." Kyuuzou said to her former colleague in a low voice.

Kanbei ran up to her. "Your arm…" he started. Kyuuzou's right arm hung uselessly at her side. The samurai woman replied matter-of-factly, "I can still use my left arm."

Shimada rested his eyes at their savior. As always, she would find him and save him, even if she had to risk her life to do so. But he knew it was not love that moved her.

Kanbei tore his gaze away from the red figure when Katsushiro ran into the room. The child charged at a Mimizuku but the robot broke his sword and knocked him to the ground. Kambei immediately went to the boy's rescue. With a quick slash, he cut down the mecha who was about to discharge a gun at the fallen child.

But there were more Mimizukus with firearms, and they were not hesitating to use them. Kyuuzou saw a Mimizuku point its gun at her commander. The scarlet samurai rushed at the robot without hesitation. That thing would not kill Shimada Kanbei, at least not while she was still alive!

All of a sudden, bullets tore through her body. The master swordswoman saw the Mimizuku fall to the floor, revealing Katsushiro behind it. The child had a smoking gun in his hand. Then Kyuuzou herself fell.

As the crimson samurai collapsed, she felt the tiny life she held inside her fade away. Should she care? She would have snuffed out that life herself anyway. But just for that brief moment, the woman felt deep regret.

Kanbei caught Kyuuzou in his arms before she hit the ground. The man cradled her head in his left arm while supporting her thin body with his right arm. The woman looked him in the eye even as her crimson blood soaked his clothes. "Hurry… finish the job," she commanded.

But the white-clad warrior ignored her order. "Please don't leave me!" he pleaded. "I love you."

"Why is he saying this?" Kyuuzou wondered. Why was he toying with her even now, tempting her to believe in something she should not trust? She shook her head weakly as if to refuse his words. "Don't forget our duel," she reminded him slowly even as life bled away from her. "I'll wait for you in the village."

Despair seized Kanbei's heart as he realized that Kyuuzou would not stay no matter how hard he begged. "I will be there with you soon," he whispered to the pale warrior as he held her close. "Wait for me in the afterlife."

Kyuuzou made no answer. The dark warrior's face faded from her sight as she passed into another world.

Kanbei removed his bloodied glove and passed his bare hand over those vacant ruby eyes in one last caress, closing them for good. He recalled the last time he had seen them thus shut, when she had lain asleep beside him in the mountain forest. He had dared to hope then that it would be the first of many nights they would share. But it turned out to be the last.

Kanbei stood up to face the boy who had just killed his beloved. "I… I killed Kyuuzou," Katsushiro stuttered. "I… should die for this! Make recompense with my life!"

"You live for a little longer," Kanbei calmly addressed the trembling boy even as he felt something die within himself. "And fight well. We'll be dead soon enough anyway."

Shichiroji looked at his friend with slight surprise. It almost sounded as if Kanbei wanted to die. But they did not come here planning to die. They came here planning to win, or at least that was what he thought.

"Enough talk!" Kanbei said. "Someone still has to take Ukyo's head!" The commander silently took up one of Kyuuzou's twin swords. Then he led the survivors back into battle. Kanbei wielded Kyuuzou's sword in his right hand, his own sword in his left, as he fought his way through the flying fortress.

* * *

The young emperor gasped in horror as the dark ronin strode towards him with a murderous glare in his dark eyes. Ukyo stared at the sword the samurai was pointing at him. It was not Kanbei's sword. It was a familiar sword. His cousin's. How did it come to be in this man's hand?

Ukyo had never once dreamt that this sword would one day be aimed at him. The Amanushi screamed. But before he could finish his scream, Kanbei struck him through with the sword. As Ukyo met Kanbei's eyes for that brief moment, the Amanushi had the vague feeling that to this man, killing him was not just about Kanna. It was something more personal. Then the emperor fell.

* * *

With Kyuuzou's sword in his hand, Kanbei fought his way through what was left of the Capital. He would finish this war and win this victory – for her. Shichiroji and Kanbei hacked through the machinery of the giant fortress, dismantling whatever they could as the flying ship hit the ground and plowed forward toward Kanna.

Kikuchiyo drove the Nobuseri's ship-cutting sword through the fortress, trying his best to bring the giant ship to a halt. His efforts did not go to waste. The Capital lost enough momentum to tip over the edge of the cliff and plummet into the chasm dividing Kanna from the rest of the world. The samurai had succeeded. The village was saved.

Shichiroji and Kanbei found themselves standing among the falling snowflakes and smoking debris as the distraught Katsushiro stumbled around, screaming for more Nobuseri to kill.

"We've lived yet again," the old friends said to each other in an unreadable tone. Kanbei was not sure if he was sad or glad. The veteran had won his war, but still he felt oddly hollow. He had come all the way to Kanna to fight a winning battle for once. Now the former commander had his wish, but he still felt defeated – he had lost the only woman he ever loved. But if not for Kanna, he would never have met Kyuuzou. Perhaps it was all fated to end this way.

He buried her beside the others in Kanna. The seasoned soldier shed no tears over her. Kyuuzou would not have wanted that. The proud red samurai never desired to be loved or cherished. During the one night they possessed each other, he had not seen any tenderness or warmth in her scarlet eyes, only curiosity and challenge.

The dark commander was never one to be sentimental. He had seen many comrades fall and left their corpses behind without any lingering grief. After all, grief was useless on the battlefield. But he missed the crimson warrior. He would come to see her again and again, right until the day he left Kanna with Shichiroji.

Each time, Kanbei would stand silently before Kyuuzou's grave, wondering if she would ever let him speak to her the way a man would speak to a woman, had she lived. And each time, he tried to remind himself that Kyuuzou would not have wanted to be the subject of any softer feelings. From beginning to end, she was a fighter, not a lover. Yet in the years after, he could never forget her. Whenever he closed his eyes the memories would come unbidden to him – the sight of her graceful form leaping from the wrecked Raiden, the way she looked under the moonlight in the House of the Fireflies, and how they had embraced each other under the great tree in Kanna Forest.

"Where is she now?" the old samurai would wonder. "Does she still walk alone in the world of the dead?"

* * *

Note: Though Kyuuzou is the 'only woman' Kanbei had ever loved, it is not conclusive if she is the only person he had ever loved, in the universe of this fic. The indications in earlier chapters are that his previous partners, serious or otherwise, were all male. I'll leave this in this fuzzy state so that readers can decide for themselves if Kyuuzou is Kanbei's one and only true love. ;-) A nod to Shichi/Kan fans ;-) 


	18. An End and a Beginning

Ambiguity  
Chapter 18: An End and a Beginning  
----------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Pairing: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:  
- The previous chapter had been reworked on 10/20/06. I added more of Kanbei's thoughts and reactions at Q's death. So do re-read it if you have read the old version.

Warnings: See Chapter  
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

* * *

It seemed an eternity before he came to her. He saw the fair-haired samurai waiting on the other side when he crossed the river. She looked the way he had remembered her, but somewhat different. Ageless. Neither young nor old. Shimada wanted to embrace her, but he stopped himself. Kyuuzou probably did not want to be held. All she wanted was a duel to decide which of them was the victor.

"You're late," she said with a degree of cool annoyance when he came ashore.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," the white-clad samurai bowed apologetically. "I will be happy to have our match whenever you should desire."

She acknowledged his words with a slight bow. It was then Kanbei noticed that there was someone standing behind the blonde, someone smaller than her. The tall man approached Kyuuzou's side and looked down at her companion – a young soul. The boy with gold-dark hair looked curiously at Kanbei with reddish brown eyes. Kanbei stared in shock. The stranger had golden brown skin darker than Kyuuzou's but lighter than Kanbei's; there was no denying he had the old warrior's handsomeness and Kyuuzou's slender grace.

The old ronin turned to the woman and asked almost angrily, "Why did you not tell me? I would never have let you go into battle."

"I didn't think that you would have cared, or that you'd even want to know." She rolled her ruby eyes. "As for going into battle, I was pregnant, not invalid."

"I would have wanted to know," Kanbei said to her in a gentler voice. "I would have wanted our child to live."

But Kyuuzou had not wanted that. She did not tell him what she thought though. Instead, the red samurai responded in a neutral voice. "If I had not come to save you from Tessai, could you have saved Kanna?"

Kanbei knew that she was probably right. But still he insisted, "You should have told me! I had the right to know."

"Would that have changed anything?" Kyuuzou replied quietly, "My life and his in exchange for all the lives in Kanna. You would have made that choice too."

He knew she was right. It was just as well he did not know of the child, for letting them both die would have been the most painful decision he would have to make. But there was no point discussing the past further when there were more important things in the present. The young soul standing before them was looking silently from one samurai to the other.

"What is his name?" He asked the fair-haired woman while eyeing the boy with wonder.

"I did not name him. I was waiting for you because I did not want to do all the work." Kyuuzou replied in a detached manner.

Shimada looked at both of them, a little surprised.

"I was waiting for you to show up so I can leave him with you and go my own way." Kyuuzou addressed Kanbei coolly. "After all, you were the one who made the first move that night in Kanna. But I think, our young friend here might decide he wants nothing to do with either of us and find his own way."

Then she added a little more kindly as she looked down at her young companion, "Still, he's starting to grow on me a little."

Kanbei tried to take Kyuuzou's hand, but the scarlet warrior folded her arms defensively. "I still want our duel," Kyuuzou continued, "Only it is rather pointless now. I can't kill you since you're already dead." She was still frowning, but a smile was pulling at the corner of her lips.

"Well, since we both dead," the dark warrior smiled back as he held her gaze. "We have an eternity to decide the winner with as many duels as we wish."

She laughed. This was something Kanbei had never seen while they were in the world of the living, not even during the one night they shared in Kanna Forest. He laughed with her and took the hand of the gold-dark boy. Perhaps this life would be different from the last.

_The End_

* * *

**_Acknowledgements:_** Thanks to Vespera for the feedback on Kyuuzou's character and the chapter structure. They were most helpful for improving the story. 


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